Atharva Veda 9.5.21: Kanda 9, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 5, Mantra 21
Sukta 5
स॒त्यं च॒र्तं च॒ चक्षु॑षी॒ विश्वं॑ स॒त्यं श्र॒द्धा प्रा॒णो वि॒राट् शिरः॑ । ए॒ष वा अप॑रिमितो य॒ज्ञो यद॒जः पञ्चौ॑दनः
satyáṃ ca ṛtáṃ ca cákṣuṣī víśvaṃ satyáṃ śraddhā́ prāṇó virā́ṭ śíraḥ | eṣá vā aparimito yajñó yad ajáḥ pañcáudanáḥ
Truth and Order are its two eyes; all is Truth: Faith is its breath; Virāj its head. This, verily, is the immeasured Sacrifice—namely, the Goat with the Fivefold Porridge.
इस यज्ञ के दो आँखें हैं, सच और धरम। सब कुछ सच है। श्रद्धा इसकी साँस है, विराट इसका सर है। यह एक असीमित यज्ञ है, बकरा और पाँच दालों की खीर।
Rishi: Atharvanic/Brāhmaṇa-style anonymous (as typical for AV ritual-prose hymnic units)
Devata: Yajña (sacrifice personified) / Virāj as cosmic principle
Chandas: Mixed/prose-like triṣṭubh-jagatī cadence; brāhmaṇa-style diction (not a strict RV hymn meter)
Primary: shanta
Secondary: adbhuta
Sāyaṇa treats the passage as brāhmaṇa-like identification (nirvacana) of the yajña’s ‘body’: satya and ṛta as the seeing powers; śraddhā as the sustaining inner assent; prāṇa as the animating force; virāj as the cosmic form/head. ‘Aparimita’ signals inexhaustible phala. ‘Ajaḥ pañcaudanaḥ’ is the named rite/oblation-complex, not merely a casual goat-offering.
To obtain limitless sacrificial merit and an ‘unmeasured’ world (aparimita loka) through gifting/performing the aja-pañcaudana rite
paustika
Donor/performer and household fortune
To obtain limitless sacrificial merit and secure unbounded well-being through the aja-pañcaudana rite.
Ritual identification (bandhu): mapping ethical-cosmic principles onto the rite’s ‘body’ to amplify phala.
Scarcity, limited merit, social-ritual diminishment
Wealth, food-security, merit, ‘immeasured’ loka
The sacrifice is personified: its eyes are Satya and Ṛta; Faith is its breath; Virāj its head. The ‘immeasured sacrifice’ is identified with the goat and the fivefold porridge offering.
A coherent life is ‘seen’ through truth and right order; it ‘breathes’ by trust/commitment; its ‘head’ is expansive luminous speech/order (Virāj). The rite externalizes inner integration into a concrete gift/meal-offering.
Prosperity and merit are not random: they arise when truthfulness, order, trust, and a unifying vision animate one’s actions—ritual is a disciplined way of embodying that alignment.
- सत्यम् (satyam)
- integrity, congruence of speech and reality; healing of social/inner fracture
- ऋतम् (ṛtam)
- ethical rhythm, natural law, correct timing and proportion
- चक्षुषी (cakṣuṣī)
- discernment through twin standards: truth + order
- श्रद्धा (śraddhā)
- the animating commitment that sustains practice
- प्राणः (prāṇaḥ)
- vital continuity of the rite/life-project
- विराट् (virāṭ)
- integrative head-principle; luminous articulation; the ‘measure’ that paradoxically opens the immeasured
- अपरिमितः (aparimitaḥ)
- non-finite merit; unbounded horizon of result
- यज्ञः (yajñaḥ)
- structured reciprocity; offering that reshapes the self
- अजः (ajaḥ)
- fertility, substitute-life, pastoral wealth; a portable unit of prosperity
- पञ्चौदनः (pañcaudanaḥ)
- total nourishment (fivefold completeness); integrated household plenty
Integrity-practice: see with Satya/Ṛta, breathe with Śraddhā, crown with Virāj (expansive clarity).
ājñā (discernment ‘two eyes’) / sahasrāra (Virāj as head)
Slow nāḍī-śodhana with attention to ‘faith as breath’.
Sattvic coherence; ethical concentration (dharma-dhāraṇā).
Use as a contemplative preface to giving (dāna) or disciplined practice: silently affirm satya, align actions to ṛta, then offer something tangible.
Prose-recitation with clear clause breaks; maintain dignified udātta rises on key terms (satyam, ṛtam, śraddhā, prāṇa, virāṭ).
Pause after cakṣuṣī; give weight to aparimito yajñaḥ; articulate compound pañcaudanaḥ clearly.
ṛtam: vocalic ṛ clean, not ‘ri’, śraddhā: cluster ‘ddh’ voiced; long ā, virāṭ: long ā; final ṭ retroflex, pañcaudanaḥ: ‘au’ diphthong; keep ‘da’ dental
Solemn, didactic, steady volume.
Because it is brāhmaṇa-like, intelligibility is part of efficacy—recite with meaning, not speed.
Seeking long-term prosperity/merit; framing charitable giving; household vow completion.
Before annadāna, donation, or a family prosperity rite; during reflection on ethical living.
Strengthened resolve toward truthful, orderly living; sense of abundance through disciplined generosity.
Avoid using as a transactional ‘buying merit’ formula; keep the ethical core (satya/ṛta/śraddhā) central.
पदच्छेद (सन्धि-निरसन): सत्यं च ऋतं च चक्षुषी विश्वं सत्यं श्रद्धा प्राणो विराट् शिरः । एषः वै अपरिमितः यज्ञः यत् अजः पञ्च-ओदनः । प्रमुख सन्धि: (1) एष + वै → एष वै (विसर्ग-लोप/पदपाठानुसार) (2) यद् + अजः → यदजः (द् + अ → दज) (3) पञ्च + ओदनः → पञ्चौदनः (अ + ओ → औ, गुण/वृद्धि-सन्धि).
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