Sukta 23
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (often transmitted without a single named ṛṣi for minor healing charms; assigned in some indices to Atharvan/Angiras lineages).
Devata: Oṣadhi (the herb) and Rājanī/Night (personified night-power).
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (4 pādas of 8 syllables; typical of Atharvanic healing charms).
Mantras
Mantra 1
शत्रुनिवारणम्। नक्तंजातास्योषधे रामे कृष्णे असिक्नि च । इदं रजनि रजय किलासं पलितं च यत्
Night-born art thou, O Herb—O dark one, black one, yea, black-hued besides. This, O Night, do thou make dark again: the kílāsa, and the grayness—whatsoever it be.
Mantra 2
किलासं च पलितं च निरितो नाशया पृषत्। आ त्वा स्वो विशतां वर्णः परा शुक्लानि पातय
Both kilāsa and grayness, from Nirṛti do thou destroy, O Spotted One. Let thine own proper colour enter into thee; cast off afar the whitenesses.
Mantra 3
असितं ते प्रलयनमास्थानमसितं तव । असिक्न्यस्योषधे निरितो नाशया पृषत्
Black is thy seat, thy station for undoing; black, again, is thine. O Herb, of the Black One, destroy Nirṛti; smite thou the Speckled (bane).
Mantra 4
अस्थिजस्य किलासस्य तनूजस्य च यत् त्वचि। दूष्या कृतस्य ब्रह्मणा लक्ष्म श्वेतमनीनशम्
Whatsoever of bone-begotten, of kilāsa, and of body-begotten (ill) is upon the skin—O blemish—by the spell-power, as of a thing wrought (and imposed), that white mark have I made to vanish.
Frequently Asked Questions
It targets whitening conditions—especially kílāsa (white skin patches) and palitá (premature grayness)—and treats them as both a medical and inauspicious ‘mark’ to be reversed.
Night symbolizes the power of darkening and restoration; the herb is imagined as carrying that same blackening potency, so together they ‘turn back’ the whitened sign and drive away its harmful agency.
Both. Along with healing, it expels Nirṛti (calamity/misfortune) and cancels an affliction described as ‘wrought’ or imposed, giving the charm an apotropaic, protective edge.