Sukta 31
Rishi: Atharvanic seer tradition (often transmitted under Atharvan/Angiras attribution for bhaiṣajya hymns; specific r̥ṣi for 2.31 varies by anukramaṇī tradition).
Devata: Kṛmi (worms) as the addressed adversary; vāc/mantra as operative power; implicitly the healing force allied with Atharvanic speech.
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (predominant in AV healing charms; this verse conforms to anuṣṭubh-like cadence though AV metrics can be flexible).
Mantras
Mantra 1
क्रिमिजम्भनम्। इन्द्रस्य या मही दृषत् क्रिमेर्विश्वस्य तर्हणी । तया पिनष्मि सं क्रिमीन् दृषदा खल्वाँ इव
Worm-crushing. That mighty Indra’s press-stone which is the vanquisher of every worm—therewith I pound the worms all together, as (one pounds) in a mortar with the grinding-stone.
Mantra 2
दृष्टमदृष्टमतृहमथो कुरूरुमतृहम्। अल्गण्डून्त्सर्वान् छलुनान् क्रिमीन् वचसा जम्भयामसि
The seen, the unseen—these we tear away; yea, the Kurūru too we tear away. All Algaṇḍus, all Chalunā-worms, the Krimís—by our uttered word we make them gape and crush them down.
Mantra 3
अल्गण्डून् हन्मि महता वधेन दूना अदूना अरसा अभूवन्। शिष्टानशिष्टान् नि तिरामि वाचा यथा क्रिमीणां नकिरुच्छिषातै
The Algandús I smite with mighty slaughter: afflicted and unafflicted alike have they become sapless. The ordered and the disorderly I thrust away with Speech, so that of the worms not one at all may be left remaining.
Mantra 4
अन्वान्त्र्यं शीर्षण्य१मथो पार्ष्टेयं क्रिमीन्। अवस्कवं व्यध्वरं क्रिमीन् वचसा जम्भयामसि
The intestinal worm, the worm that haunts the head, and also the worm that dwells in the flank—these worms; the Avaskava, the Vyadhvara worms—these worms we, by our sacred utterance, do crush and grind to ruin.
Mantra 5
ये क्रिमयः पर्वतेशु वनेष्वोषधीषु पशुष्वप्स्व१न्तः । ये अस्माकं तन्वऽमाविविशुः सर्वं तद्धन्मि जनिम क्रिमीणाम्
What worms there be in mountains, in the forests, in the herbs, in cattle, in the waters—within; and what have entered into our body: all that do I smite, even the birth and breed of the worms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both. The hymn targets kṛmi as bodily parasites and also as hostile disease-agents; Atharvanic healing speech treats the infestation and the malevolent “grip” behind it.
They provide a concrete ritual model for the cure: just as grain is crushed by stone in a mortar, the worms are imagined as being crushed by Indra-like force and by the mantra’s pressure.
The hymn does not only expel present worms; it also attacks their janima—their birth/source—symbolically severing the line of reproduction so the condition does not return.