Mantra 8
Sukta 23
Sanskrit (Devanagari)
हतो येवाषः क्रिमीणां हतो नदनिमोत। सर्वान् नि मष्मषाकरं दृषदा खल्वाँ इव
IAST Transliteration
ható yévāṣaḥ krimī́ṇāṃ ható nadaním úta | sárvān ní maṣmaṣā́karaṃ dṛṣádā́ khalvā́ṃ iva ||
English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)
Slain is the yevāṣa among the worms, slain too the nadanī; all of them I grind down to a mash, as with a mill-stone in the mortar.
Word by Word
ह॒तःslain, destroyed
ह॒तः:
— (विधेय-विशेषणम्; predicative adjective)
TypeAdjective (past passive participle used predicatively)
Rootहन् (धातु) → हत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
येwho, which (those who)
ये:
Kartā (relative subject of implied verb ‘are/stand’)
TypePronoun
Rootयद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
इवlike, as
इव:
— (उपमान-निर्देशकः)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootइव
आषःāṣa-creatures (a kind of pest/parasite)
आषः:
Kartā (understood with ‘हताः’ as predicate: ‘the āṣa-s are slain’)
TypeNoun
Rootआष (प्रातिपदिक; ‘आष’ = a kind of noxious creature/parasite; AV usage)
क्रिमीणाम्of worms, of parasites
क्रिमीणाम्:
सम्बन्ध (genitive relation)
TypeNoun
Rootकृमि (प्रातिपदिक)
हतःslain, destroyed
हतः:
— (विधेय-विशेषणम्)
TypeAdjective (PPP used predicatively)
Rootहन् (धातु) → हत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
नदनिम्the biter/gnawing pest
नदनिम्:
Karma (object of implied ‘(we) slay/drive off’)
TypeNoun
Rootनदनि (प्रातिपदिक; AV: a ‘biter/gnawer’, pest)
उतand, also
उत:
— (समुच्चय/अन्वर्थ-निपातः)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootउत
सर्वान्all (of them)
सर्वान्:
Karma
TypeAdjective (used substantively)
Rootसर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
निdown, away (intensifier with verb)
नि:
— (क्रियाविशेषण-भावः)
TypePreverb/Indeclinable
Rootनि
मष्मषाकरम्the crusher/grinder (a destructive pest/agent)
मष्मषाकरम्:
Karma
TypeNoun/Agent-noun
Rootमष्मषा-कर (प्रातिपदिक; ‘making a mashing/crushing sound’ → ‘crusher/grinder’; AV charm-vocabulary)
दृषदाwith a stone (millstone)
दृषदा:
Karaṇa
TypeNoun
Rootदृषद् (प्रातिपदिक ‘stone, millstone’)
खल्वान्mortars
खल्वान्:
Karma (object of comparison: ‘(as) mortars’)
TypeNoun
Rootखल्व (प्रातिपदिक ‘mortar’)
इवlike, as
इव:
— (उपमान-निर्देशकः)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootइव
Attribution
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition
Devata: Krimi-nāśana (destructive act; instrumentality emphasized)
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh
Mantra Rasa
{"primary_rasa":"vira","secondary_rasa":"raudra","emotional_arc":"From declared victory to decisive reduction of the enemy into mash.","listener_experience":"Empowerment through tangible imagery; a sense of ‘finishing the job.’","intensity":7}