Atharva Veda 8.6.26: Kanda 8, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 6, Mantra 26
Sukta 6
अ॒प्र॒जा॒स्त्वं मार्त॑वत्स॒माद् रोद॑म॒घमा॑व॒यम्। वृ॒क्षादि॑व॒ स्रजं॑ कृ॒त्वाप्रि॑ये॒ प्रति॑ मुञ्च॒ तत्
aprajā́s tvaṃ mā́rtavatsam ā́d ródam aghám ā́vayam | vṛkṣā́d iva srájaṃ kṛtvā́priye práti muñca tát ||
Childless be thou, with mortal brood: from us we drive away the weeping, the evil. As from a tree one strips a garland off, so cast thou that away—send it back upon the unloved.
तू बच्चे ना पैदा कर, जो पैदा हो वो मर जाये। हम रोने और बुराई को अपने पास से भगा देते हैं। जैसे पेड़ से हार उतरता है, वैसे ही बुरा काम को उस इंसान पर वापस कर दे जिसे कोई पसंद नहीं करता।
The meaning
What it says
A curse/transfer formula: ‘Childless be thou, with mortal brood: from us we drive away the weeping, the evil. As from a tree one strips off a garland, so cast that away—send it back upon the unloved.’
The inner meaning
The verse externalizes and relocates grief/ill-omen (‘weeping evil’) away from the vulnerable household. The garland metaphor provides a concrete mental action: remove, lift off, and reassign the burden—an early form of ritualized ‘letting go’ and boundary defense.
The truth in it
Communities create mechanisms to prevent suffering from nesting in the home; symbolic transfer rituals can interrupt cycles of fear and contagion, though they risk projecting harm onto others.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Rakṣoghna / Abhicarika (counter-sorcery) with domestic healing intent
Its aim
To remove ominous crying and misfortune from a birth-context and to return/transfer the affliction to a hostile ‘unloved’ target; to render the harming agent ‘childless’.
Word by Word
Pada patha
अप्रजाः । त्वम् । मार्तवत्सम् । आत् । रोदम् । अघम् । आवयम् । वृक्षात् । इव । स्रजम् । कृत्वा । अप्रिये । प्रति । मुञ्च । तत् ।
- अप्रजाः
- O childless onechildless; without offspring (state to be imposed on the hostile power, or removed from the patient depending on construal)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम् (सम्बोधनार्थेऽपि प्रथमा)Role सम्बोधन (Vocative address)Root अ-प्रजा (प्रजाः < प्रजा-)
- त्वम्
- youthou (address to the targeted agent—often the demon/evil influence)Pronounप्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role कर्तृ (of implied/understood verb of being/doing)Root युष्मद्
- मार्तवत्सम्
- a mortal-like calf/offspring (a mortal’s young)having mortal calves/offspring; ‘mortal-progeny’ (i.e., bound to death; a pejorative epithet for the evil power’s brood)Noun/Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot मार्तवत्स (प्रातिपदिकम्)
- आत्
- forth, out; then/indeed (Vedic particle)from; away from (ablatival particle, marking separation)Indeclinableनिपातः/उपसर्गःRoot आ (उपसर्ग/निपात; छान्दस रूपम् ‘आत्’)
- रोदम्
- weeping, lamentationweeping/crying (distress of mother/infant; also ominous crying)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot रुद् (धातु) → रोद (कृदन्त/नामधातु-आधारः)
- अघम्
- evil, sin, misfortuneNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्म (appositional to रोदम्)Root अघ (प्रातिपदिकम्)
- आवयम्
- (we) drive/bring away (Vedic); or ‘then we’ (if read as आ वयम्)we drive away/remove (1pl; ritual expulsion by speech-act)Verb (or particle+pronoun, Vedic)यदि क्रिया: लोट्/लङ्?—छान्दस अस्पष्ट; यदि ‘आ वयम्’: ‘वयम्’ प्रथमा बहुवचनम्Role यदि क्रिया: कर्तृ-सम्बन्धः; यदि ‘आ वयम्’: कर्तृ = वयम्Root आ + वि (धातु: वे/वय् ‘to weave/arrange’; छान्दस प्रयोगः) अथवा ‘आ वयम्’ (आ + वयम्) इति पदच्छेद-सम्भावना
- वृक्षात्
- from a treeNounपुंलिङ्गः, पञ्चमी, एकवचनम्Role अपादानRoot वृक्ष (प्रातिपदिकम्)
- इव
- like, asas, like (simile marker)Indeclinableउपमा-अव्ययम्Root इव
- स्रजम्
- garland, wreathgarland/wreath (metaphor for evil clinging to the person)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot स्रज्/स्रज (प्रातिपदिकम्)
- कृत्वा
- having madehaving made; making (ritual fabrication/imagery of forming a garland-like bundle)Verbal indeclinable (gerund)क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययम्Role पूर्वकाल-क्रिया (having done)Root कृ (धातु)
- अप्रिये
- in/for the unloved (one)upon the unloved/hostile one (recipient of transferred evil)Adjective (used substantively)नपुंसकलिङ्गे/पुंलिङ्गे, सप्तमी, एकवचनम् (प्रयोगः: ‘in/for the unliked one’)Role अधिकरण (or लक्ष्य-सम्बन्धः)Root अ-प्रिय (प्रातिपदिकम्)
- प्रति
- towards, againsttoward; back onto (direction of transfer/return)Indeclinableउपसर्ग/अव्ययम्Root प्रति
- मुञ्च
- release, let go, cast offVerbलोट्, मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्, परस्मैपदम्Role क्रियाRoot मुच् (धातु)
- तत्
- that (it)that (the evil/crying/misfortune just mentioned)Pronounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot तद्
Sandhi Notes
- अप्रजाः त्वं मार्तवत्सम् आत् रोदम् अघम् आवयम् । वृक्षात् इव स्रजम् कृत्वा अप्रिये प्रति मुञ्च तत् । मुख्य सन्धयः:
- (1) वृक्षादिव → वृक्षात् + इव (त् + इ = दि, छान्दस/लौकिक संधि-रूप).
- (2) कृत्वाप्रिये → कृत्वा + अप्रिये (आ + अ = आ; दीर्घसन्धिः).
- (3) ‘आत्’ छान्दस निपात-रूपः ‘आ’/‘अथ’ इत्यर्थे।
- (4) ‘आवयम्’ पदे पाठभेद/विग्रह-सम्भावना: ‘आ वयम्’ इति अपि सम्भवति
- मन्त्रार्थे सुसंगतता पाठपरम्परया निर्णेया।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition (anukramaṇī attribution varies)
- Devata
- Primarily the expelled evil/hostile agent (rakṣas/graha) addressed; operative power is the mantra itself
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh (probable)
- Rasa
- Raudra and Bhayankara
Sāyaṇa reads the verse as a removal-and-transfer (apakarṣaṇa/pratyavamarśa) formula: the ‘weeping’ and ‘evil’ afflicting the household are driven off and ‘released’ onto an ‘unloved’ hostile locus (apriya), by a simile of stripping a garland from a tree—i.e., detaching something that clings. ‘Aprajāḥ’ functions as a curse upon the malevolent agent, depriving it of generative power.
Atharvanic tradition (rakṣoghna/abhicāra-tinged domestic counter-charm)
Counter-sorcery and transfer rites: removing affliction by symbolic stripping and redirection; managing ominous signs in birth-context.
Shows the Atharvan’s double edge: healing the household by expelling evil, sometimes by redirecting it—revealing the ethical tension within domestic magic.
Expelled evil (agha/rodam) and hostile agent addressed; operative power is the mantra’s apasarpaṇa/transfer force
Misfortune is treated as a quasi-substance that can adhere and be removed; the mantra re-establishes auspicious order by relocating it beyond the household boundary.
Relieves distress by ritually ‘lifting off’ the ominous burden; restores calm in the birth setting.
Creates a defensive perimeter: the evil is not merely dismissed but actively redirected away from the protected unit.
4×8
Abhicāra-tinged verses often heighten the second hemistich with vivid simile (tree/garland) as a performative cue for action.
First half: imprecatory and expulsive; second half: illustrative, then sharply directive.
The simile anchors ritual gesture; the final ‘prati muñca’ functions as the decisive ‘throw-back’.
Identify the affliction sign (continuous crying, ominous weeping, fear of graha/rakṣas).
Take a garland or a garland-like bundle (or symbolically ‘make’ one) as a transfer-object.
While reciting the mantra, detach/strip the garland from a branch or from the patient’s vicinity, enacting ‘vṛkṣād iva srajam’.
Cast/throw the object away from the house (or toward a designated ‘unloved’ direction/spot), synchronizing with ‘prati muñca tat’.
Conclude with a verbal curse of infertility upon the hostile agent (‘aprajās tvaṃ’), sealing the reversal.
Kauśika Sūtra: expulsion/transfer rites (nirāsa, pratyavamarśa) used in domestic protection; applied in conjunction with birth-warding sequences (edition-dependent numbering).
Atharvan priest as apotropaic technician: diagnoses the ‘aghá’ as externalized evil, performs transfer-object manipulation, and directs the reversal onto the hostile locus.
If a garland/cord is used, it may be touched to the affected space/person and then removed and discarded at a crossroads/away from the home, symbolically ‘stripping off’ the evil.
When ominous crying persists, after a frightening event, or during postpartum nights interpreted as inauspicious.
Atharvan-healer directs the transfer and disposal; household members assist in carrying away the object.
KauśS: rakṣoghna and counter-charm procedures often involve transfer-objects and disposal beyond the boundary; AVŚ 8.6 usage is typically embedded in such sequences (edition-specific).
If adapted, focus on the ‘removal’ aspect (letting go) without harming/targeting another person; disposal can be into running water or outside as symbolic release (environmentally responsible).
sraj (garland/wreath) as operative metaphor; possibly a physical garland used as a transfer-object in performance
The garland is a classic transfer-object: what is ‘worn’ by the tree can be stripped and reassigned. In praxis, a physical garland/cord can embody the affliction, then be removed and discarded outside the boundary.
Ominous crying/distress (rodam) and misfortune (agha) in a birth context; hostile influence conceptualized as transferable evil
Expulsion and transfer: remove affliction from household and redirect it; psychological relief through enacted separation
Comparable to rakṣā and apakārṣaṇa (drawing out) logics; not pharmacological but protective/psychosocial.
Ritual processing of postpartum anxiety and infant crying; creating structured responses to distress (soothing routines, support), though ‘sending to another’ has no ethical modern equivalent.
Hostile agent/‘apriya’ designated recipient; the affliction itself
Drive away weeping-evil from the household and return the affliction to a designated hostile ‘outside’ target; neutralize the harming agent by making it ‘childless.’
Apasarpaṇa (driving away) + prati-mocana (sending back) using a transfer-object metaphor (sraj) and possible physical enactment.
Recurring misfortune, ominous crying, perceived attacks on infant/mother
- अप्रजाः (aprajāḥ)
- cutting the adversary’s continuity/power; stopping recurrence of harm
- मार्तवत्स (mārtavatsam)
- reducing the foe to perishable, non-divine status; stripping supernatural authority
- रोदम् (rodam)
- ominous crying, distress-sign; grief that ‘calls in’ further misfortune
- अघ (agha)
- a transferable pollution-like burden
- स्रज् (sraj)
- a removable ‘binding’ of fortune/misfortune; transfer-object in ritual
- अप्रिय (apriya)
- designated target for return/deflection; the ‘outside’ of the protected circle
Release and boundary: identify grief/fear as ‘not-self’ and consciously ‘strip it off.’
mūlādhāra
On inhale, feel stability; on exhale, visualize removing a garland-like band of heaviness and placing it outside a protective circle (without assigning it to a person).
A tree with a garland of dark mist; you gently remove it and let it dissolve into earth-light beyond the boundary.
Protective detachment and groundedness.
Use the verse as a ritual of release: chant once, then perform a simple physical act (remove a thread/garland from the wrist and discard respectfully) as a closure cue.
Forceful on imprecation (aprajāḥ…); clear directive emphasis on prati muñca.
Emphasize rodam and agham as the ‘thing’ being expelled; lengthen slightly on srajam to cue the stripping gesture; finish with a sharp, clean cadence on tat.
Decisive, outward-projecting; avoid shouting—use a firm low register.
Traditionally suited to disposal rites: chant while removing/stripping, then once at the moment of casting away beyond the boundary.
3 times
Household feels burdened by persistent distress/crying and wants a structured ‘release’ rite; postpartum fear after a scare.
After ensuring practical causes are addressed (hunger, pain, illness), use as a closure ritual to reduce anxiety and restore calm.
Psychological relief, sense of regained household boundary and order.
Do not scapegoat a person as ‘apriya’ in real life; avoid harmful social targeting. Seek medical care for persistent infant crying, fever, poor feeding, lethargy, or parental overwhelm.
The ‘tree’ and ‘garland’ supply a concrete model for detachment and transfer: evil is conceptualized as something that adheres and can be physically ‘stripped’ off. Even if no herb is named, the rite often uses plant-material (garland/branch) as a manipulable substrate for the mantra’s performative logic.
It presumes a household able to mobilize an Atharvan specialist to manage misfortune through reversal and targeted transfer. The category ‘apriya’ encodes social antagonism (rival, suspected witch, hostile neighbor) without naming; ritual speech becomes a sanctioned technology for managing conflict and anxiety.
The explicit mechanics of reversal (‘prati muñca’) and the domestic symptom (‘rodam’) foreground pragmatic ritual language. The simile-driven operational instruction is more typical of AV charms than RV praise, and the curse ‘aprajās’ reflects Atharvanic interest in controlling reproduction as a field of power.
Gopatha’s Atharvanic hermeneutic often treats evil as detachable and transferable through correctly uttered brahman plus a matching act (karman). This verse exemplifies that alignment: the mantra’s semantics (‘strip off’, ‘release back’) are mirrored by the physical handling of a garland/plant-object.
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