Sukta 16
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition
Devata: Remedy/Herb as potent agent (implicit); alternatively the addressed power behind the medicine
Chandas: Not fully determinable from the truncated opening; Atharvanic mixed style
この治療讃歌は、薬となる力を段階的に増幅してゆく加持である。薬は力を増してゆく「牡牛」として、また流れ出る樹液・精髄（rasa）として語りかけられ、vṛṣa-roga と呼ばれる病苦を鎮めるよう促される。「もし汝が……であるなら」という同一化の言葉によって薬効は呼び覚まされ、ついには冷却と浄化の結末へ至り、薬の力は「水を与える者」（apodaka）となって、均衡と活力を回復させる。
Kind of charm
Mantras
Mantra 1
वृषरोगशमनम्। यद्ये॑कवृ॒षोऽसि॑ सृ॒जार॒सोऽसि
（vṛṣa病を鎮める呪。）もし汝がただ一頭の牡牛（vṛṣa）であり、もし汝が流れ出る樹液（精液）の者であるなら——
Mantra 2
यदि॑ द्विवृ॒षोऽसि॑ सृ॒जार॒सोऽसि
もし汝が二重の牡牛の力を具え、もし汝が流れ出る精髄であるなら——そのとおり成就せよ。
Mantra 3
यदि॑ त्रिवृ॒षोऽसि॑ सृ॒जार॒सोऽसि
もし汝が三重の牡牛の力を具え、もし汝が汁液（ラサ）が流れ出づるものならば――そのとおり成就せよ。
Mantra 4
यदि॑ चतुर्वृ॒षोऽसि॑ सृ॒जार॒सोऽसि
もし汝が四重の牡牛の力を具え、もし汝が汁液（ラサ）が流れ出づるものならば――そのとおり成就せよ。
Mantra 5
यदि॑ पञ्चवृ॒षोऽसि॑ सृ॒जार॒सोऽसि
もし汝が五重の牡牛の力を具え、もし汝が汁液（ラサ）が流れ出づるものならば――そのとおり成就せよ。
Mantra 6
यदि॑ षड्-वृ॒षोऽसि॑ सृ॒जार॒सोऽसि
もし汝が六重の牡牛の力を具え、もし汝が流れ出づる精汁（sṛjā-rasa）を具えるなら――そのとおりあれ。
Mantra 7
यदि॑ सप्तवृ॒षोऽसि॑ सृ॒जार॒सोऽसि
もし汝が七重の牡牛の力を具え、もし汝が sṛjā の精汁（sṛjā-rasa）を具えるなら。
Mantra 8
यद्य॑ष्टवृ॒षोऽसि॑ सृ॒जार॒सोऽसि
もし汝が八重の牡牛の力を具え、もし汝が sṛjā の精汁（sṛjā-rasa）を具えるなら。
Mantra 9
यदि॑ नववृ॒षोऽसि॑ सृ॒जार॒सोऽसि
もし汝が九雄牛のものなら、もし汝がsṛjāの汁（arasa）を具えるものなら。
Mantra 10
यदि॑ दशवृ॒षोऽसि॑ सृ॒जार॒सोऽसि
もし汝が十雄牛のものなら、もし汝がsṛjāの汁（arasa）を具えるものなら。
Mantra 11
यद्ये॑काद॒शोऽसि॒ सोऽपो॑दको ऽसि
もし汝が十一のものなら、汝は水を授ける者である。
Inside Sukta 16
How it unfolds
- How it opens
The hymn opens by addressing the remedy as uniquely potent—“if thou art the sole bull… if thou art of flowing sap”—establishing the medicine’s identity as strength plus rasa.
- What it asks
May this empowered agent pacify the vṛṣa-disease and restore the patient through its streaming essence.
- Where its power lies
Potency is escalated through graded numeric/strength formulae (e.g., up to sixfold), asserting that the more fully the agent is ‘named as such,’ the more irresistibly it heals and protects.
- How it closes
The series culminates with the agent defined as “apodaka,” the giver of waters, sealing the cure with cooling, cleansing restoration.
Famous verses
yadye̍kavṛ̱ṣo'si̍ sṛ̱jāra̱so'si
yadi̍ ṣaḍ-vṛ̱ṣo'si̍ sṛ̱jāra̱so'si
so'po̍dako 'si
Kind of hymn
Bhaisajya (Healing)
What it is for
To calm and cure vṛṣa-roga by ritually charging a sap/juice-based remedy (and/or amulet) so it becomes strong, protective, and cleansing.
Who it is for
Household healers, Atharvanic practitioners, and caregivers treating a patient with a named illness requiring both medicine and mantra-consecration.
Also used as
- Shantika
- Apotropaic (protective charm)
The deity
A personified medicinal potency addressed as a vigorous “bull” (vṛṣa) whose strength is progressively multiplied; its defining mark is flowing sap/essence (sṛjā-rasa). In the close it is aligned with the Waters (Āpas) as a provider of cleansing, cooling restoration.
Powers of the deity
- Pacifies and drives out vṛṣa-roga (bull-like/virulent disease)
- Conveys strengthening vitality (vṛṣa = vigor/virility/force) into the patient
- Carries healing ‘rasa’ (sap/essence) that penetrates and restores
- Protects apotropaically by forming a consecrated charm-substance
- Cools, cleanses, and rehydrates as “apodaka” (giver of waters)
Why the deity is called
To consecrate the medicine by naming it as uniquely powerful and sap-rich, then escalating its potency in measured steps until it functions as a restorative, water-bestowing healer.
The seer
- Atharvanic seer (anonymous/collective)Atharvan. Bhaiṣajya and protective charms that empower medicines, juices (rasa), and amulets through incremental, formulaic consecration and identificatory declarations.
Other hymns of this seer
- AV 5.1–5.25 (general Atharvanic healing/protection cluster; individual attributions vary by recension and tradition)
Preparing for the rite
- Select a sap/juice-bearing medicinal plant or prepared herbal extract (rasa).
- Prepare clean water for washing/sipping/sprinkling; keep a vessel ready.
- If used as a charm, ready a band/amulet-cloth or a small container for the medicated substance.
- Seat the patient facing the practitioner; maintain ritual cleanliness and calm.
The rite
- Recite the hymn over the medicine/juice, repeatedly ‘identifying’ it with bull-strength and streaming rasa.
- Administer the consecrated rasa to the patient (drink/anoint), or apply to the affected area as appropriate to the illness.
- Optionally bind/attach the charged substance as an amulet for continued protection.
- Conclude with water-acts (sprinkling/offer to drink) in line with the “apodaka” culmination.
What it needs
- Plant sap/juice or herbal extract (rasa)
- Clean water (āpas)
- Optional: amulet cord/cloth, small pouch or container
When
Preferably at onset of symptoms and repeated for several days; suitable at morning/evening or when the medicine is freshly prepared.
The main substance
Rasa (sap/juice/essence) of a medicinal plant, ritually charged by mantra
Herbs
- Sap-rich oṣadhi (unspecified in excerpt; selected locally for the condition)
Amulets
- Amulet cord/cloth for binding a charged substance (optional)
- Small pouch/container to carry the consecrated remedy (optional)
How it is prepared
Express or prepare the plant’s juice/extract (rasa), keep it clean, recite the hymn over it to ‘install’ strength, then administer by drinking/anointing; accompany with water for sprinkling or sipping at the end.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is used to calm and cure an illness named vṛṣa-roga by empowering a medicinal sap/juice (rasa) through mantra-recitation and then applying or administering it.
That formula is a consecration technique: the remedy is identified with increasing measures of strength (“bull-power”), so the medicine is ritually intensified and made protective as well as curative.
It signals the final healing mode: the empowered agent is aligned with the purifying Waters—bringing cooling, cleansing, and restorative hydration, especially suitable for heat, irritation, or impurity-linked illness.
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