Sukta 8
Kanda 4Anuvaka 1Sukta 87 Mantras

Sukta 8

Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (hymn-seer not securely fixed in all anukramaṇīs)

Devata: Āpaḥ (Waters) as healing and lustre-conferring powers

Chandas: Triṣṭubh-like cadence (mixed; Atharvanic meters often irregular)

Mantras

Mantra 1

राज्याभिषेकः। भूतो भूतेषु पय आ दधाति स भूतानामधिपतिर्बभूव । तस्य मृत्युश्चरति राजसूयं स राजा राज्यमनु मन्यतामिदम्

Consecration to kingship. Being, he setteth milk amid the beings; so hath he become the overlord of creatures. For him Death walketh about the Rājasūya: let that King acknowledge this sovereignty as his due.

Mantra 2

अभि प्रेहि माप वेन उग्रश्चेत्ता सपत्नहा। आ तिष्ठ मित्रवर्धन तुभ्यं देवा अधि ब्रुवन्

Advance hither; stray not away in longing: fierce, discerning, slayer of rivals. Take thou thy station, increaser of allies; for thee the Gods have spoken their decree.

Mantra 3

आतिष्ठन्तं परि विश्वे अभूषंछ्रियं वसानश्चरति स्वरोचिः । महत् तद् वृष्णो असुरस्य नामा विश्वरूपो अमृतानि तस्थौ

Him standing firm have all encompassed and adorned; clothed in Splendour he moveth, self-resplendent. Great is that name of the Bull, the lordly Asura: of universal form he standeth fast in deathless powers.

Mantra 4

व्याघ्रो अधि वैयाघ्रे वि क्रमस्व दिशो महीः । विशस्त्वा सर्वा वाञ्छन्त्वापो दिव्याः पयस्वतीः

A tiger upon the tiger-seat—stride thou abroad through the mighty quarters. Let all the peoples long for thee; let the heavenly Waters, rich in milk, attend thee with desire.

Mantra 5

या आपो दिव्याः पयसा मदन्त्यन्तरिक्ष उत वा पृथिव्याम्। तासां त्वा सर्वासामपामभि षिञ्चामि वर्चसा

The Waters which, heavenly, with their milky sap exult—whether in the mid-air, or again upon the earth—of all those Waters I sprinkle thee, that thou be clothed with lustre and vital radiance.

Mantra 6

अभि त्वा वर्चसासिचन्नापो दिव्याः पयस्वतीः । यथासो मित्रवर्धनस्तथा त्वा सविता करत्

Upon thee the heavenly Waters, rich in nourishing sap, have sprinkled lustre: as thou art a furtherer of friends, so may Savitar fashion thee (ever) thus.

Mantra 7

एना व्याघ्रं परिषस्वजानाः सिंहं हिन्वन्ति महते सौभगाय । समुद्रं न सुभुवस्तस्थिवांसं मर्मृज्यन्ते द्वीपिनमप्स्व१न्तः

By this, embracing the Tiger round about, they urge on the Lion for mighty good fortune; as (men) within the waters polish the Leopard, firmly set like an ocean, (so is his splendour brought forth).

Frequently Asked Questions

It consecrates a person—especially a king—by sprinkling empowered waters so that health, vitality, and visible lustre (vārchas) return, while prosperity and authority become socially established.

The hymn gathers all forms of water into one total power-source, implying that the consecration draws on a complete, cosmic reservoir of healing and radiance, not merely local water.

Its imagery is royal, but its mechanism—charging water and transferring vārchas by aspersion—also fits non-royal aims such as recovery after illness, restoring confidence/attractiveness, and removing dullness or inauspiciousness.