Atharva Veda 13.2.21: Kanda 13, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 2, Mantra 21
Sukta 2
येना॑ पावक॒ चक्ष॑सा भुर॒ण्यन्तं॒ जनाँ॒ अनु॑ । त्वं व॑रुण॒ पश्य॑सि
yéna pā́vaka cákṣasā bhuraṇyántaṁ jánāṁ ánu | tváṁ varuṇa páśyasi ||
With that purifying eye wherewith, following after the roving people, thou seest, O Varuṇa.
ಓ ವರುಣನೇ, ಯಾವ ಪಾವಕ ಚಕ್ಷುಗಳಿಂದ—ಸಂಚರಿಸುವ ಜನರನ್ನು ಅನುಸರಿಸಿ—ನೀನು ನೋಡುವೆಯೋ, ಅದೇ (ಶುದ್ಧಿಕರ) ದೃಷ್ಟಿ ನಿನ್ನದು.
The meaning
What it says
Varuṇa is addressed: with his purifying eye he sees, following the roving people.
The inner meaning
The inner moral sense (conscience) is invoked as a cleansing vision that tracks one’s drifting impulses and restores alignment; ‘being seen’ becomes purification rather than shame.
The truth in it
Ethical order is therapeutic: when actions are brought under truthful seeing, bonds loosen, guilt clarifies, and social trust is repaired.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Rakṣoghna / Śānti (Order-restoring, anti-transgression)
Its aim
To invoke Varuṇa’s purifying surveillance to detect and neutralize hidden wrongdoing (theft, deceit, moral pollution) within the community.
Word by Word
Pada patha
येन । पावक । चक्षसा । भुरण्यन्तम् । जनान् । अनु । त्वम् । वरुण । पश्यसि ।
- येन
- by which / with whichwith which; instrumental-relative introducing the means (the purifying eye)Pronounनपुंसकलिङ्गे तृतीया-एकवचनम् (करणे) — ‘येन’Role करणRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → य-
- पावक
- purifying, pure (O purifier)O Purifier; epithet of a deity with cleansing vision (here addressed to Varuṇa)Adjective (used as epithet)पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा-एकवचनम् (सम्बोधनार्थे/विशेषणरूपेण) — ‘पावकः’ (पदपाठे प्रायः पावकः)Role सम्बोधन/कर्तृ-विशेषणRoot पावक (प्रातिपदिक; √पू ‘पवित्रे’ से) अथवा √पू + -अक
- चक्षसा
- with (your) eye; by sightwith (thy) eye/sight; vision as an active instrumentNounनपुंसकलिङ्गे तृतीया-एकवचनम्Role करणRoot चक्षुस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- भुरण्यन्तम्
- the roaming/moving onemoving restlessly/roaming; of people going about, also of the suspect who ‘wanders’ (potential wrongdoer)Participle (adjectival)पुंलिङ्गे द्वितीया-एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot भुरण्यन्त् (वर्तमान-कृदन्त; √भुरण्/भुर् ‘वेग/गमन/परिभ्रमण’—वैदिक)
- जनान्
- peoplepeople; the social field under surveillanceNounपुंलिङ्गे द्वितीया-बहुवचनम्Role कर्मRoot जन (प्रातिपदिक)
- अनु
- after, along, followingafter, along; tracking/following with sightIndeclinableअव्ययम् (उपसर्ग/क्रियाविशेषण)Role क्रियाविशेषणRoot अनु
- त्वम्
- youthou; direct addressPronounप्रथमा-एकवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- वरुण
- O VaruṇaO Varuṇa; lord of ṛta, moral order, and binding lawNoun (proper name)पुंलिङ्गे सम्बोधन-एकवचनम्Role सम्बोधनRoot वरुण (प्रातिपदिक)
- पश्यसि
- you seethou seest; the decisive act of detection and restraintVerbलट् (वर्तमानकालः), परस्मैपदम्, मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role क्रियाRoot √पश् (दृशौ)
Sandhi Notes
- संहितापाठः: ‘येना पावक चक्षसा भुरण्यन्तं जनाँ अनु । त्वं वरुण पश्यसि’। पदच्छेदः (सन्धिविग्रहः): येन | पावक | चक्षसा | भुरण्यन्तम् | जनान् | अनु | त्वम् | वरुण | पश्यसि। विशेषम्: ‘जनाँ’ इति संहितारूपं ‘जनान्’ (द्वितीया-बहुवचन) इत्यस्य वैदिक-प्रयोगः/अनुस्वार-लोपादि
- ‘पावक’ पदे पदपाठे प्रायः ‘पावकः’ इति विसर्गः दृश्यते, संहितायां विसर्ग-लोपः।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- AV 13 Sūrya-cycle context with Varuṇa addressed here; seer attribution varies by tradition.
- Devata
- Varuṇa (with emphasis on cakṣus, purifying sight)
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta and Bhayankara
Sāyaṇa highlights Varuṇa’s pāvaka-cakṣus as the ‘cleansing’ sight that detects sin, falsehood, and hidden transgression; it purifies by exposing and binding the offender. In Atharvanic use, this supports rites against secret wrongdoing, theft, and moral pollution, complementing the solar verses by shifting from physical light to juridical-moral vision.
Anukramaṇī-variable; AV 13 solar-cycle context with a Varuṇa-addressed verse
Śānti and rakṣoghna through ṛta-restoration; detection of transgression; communal purification
In Atharvanic domestic life, Varuṇa’s ‘seeing’ is invoked to cleanse hidden faults that manifest as illness, misfortune, or social fracture.
Varuṇa
Guardian of ṛta; overseer of truth, oaths, and cosmic-social boundaries; binder (pāśa) of transgression.
Purifies moral-ritual pollution that can present as anxiety, guilt, or communal malaise; releases by re-ordering (often paired with confession/rectification).
Detects and restrains wrongdoing; protects the community from deceit, theft, and oath-breaking.
4x8 (with possible Atharvanic resolution around bhuraṇyantam)
Compressed relative clause ‘yenā…’ typical of AV legal-magic style: it specifies the instrument (eye) to activate it.
Taut and judicial; feels like testimony.
Elicits a sober clarity; supports confession, correction, and pacification.
Perform in the morning or at a liminal time (dawn/twilight) when ‘seeing’ is ritually salient.
Seat the client facing north or east; the priest recites the mantra while sprinkling clean water (āpo) as a sign of purification aligned with pāvaka.
If used for suspected theft/wrong, the priest recites while looking successively at the assembled persons, ritually ‘placing’ Varuṇa’s gaze upon the group.
Conclude with a brief silent restraint (niyama), treating the rite as a moral binding under Varuṇa.
Kauśika Sūtra: Varuṇa-related expiation/protection and truth-detection rites (including anti-theft and pāpa-śamana applications; numbering varies by edition).
Atharvan/Brahman as moral diagnostician: he channels Varuṇa’s ‘seeing’ to expose hidden fault and to restore ṛta within the household/community.
Recite when a household feels ‘tainted’ by quarrel/deceit; combine with a truth-speaking pledge and a small act of restitution if needed.
At dawn or before communal decisions; also after resolving disputes.
Purohita as mediator; or householder in a private śānti observance.
Appropriate in pacification rites for suspected wrongdoing and in protective truth-witness contexts; exact Kauśika placement depends on the rite (often paired with confession/śānti actions).
Use as a reflective recitation before apology/repair conversations.
Purifying sight (pāvaka-cakṣus) as moral-ritual instrument; Varuṇa’s binding power (implicit: pāśa) as restraint
Pāvaka implies purifying fire-quality (tejas) applied as ‘vision’.
Purification occurs through ‘seeing’ rather than through a physical drug: the mantra makes sight itself into a cleansing agent.
Afflictions linked to moral/ritual breach: anxiety, guilt, social conflict; ‘hidden’ contamination; fear of accusation.
Eye (cakṣus) metaphorically; secondarily supports ocular clarity as ‘light of mind’.
Purifying surveillance: seeing → naming → restraint → reintegration; implicitly invokes Varuṇa’s binding/releasing power.
Sattva purification; supports buddhi and manas; ‘pāvaka’ aligns with agni that digests āma at the moral-psychological level.
Restorative justice/conflict mediation; cognitive clarity practices; addressing guilt/shame through accountability and repair.
Community/household; suspected deception, theft, oath-issues; inner moral turmoil.
To invoke Varuṇa’s purifying sight to detect and neutralize hidden wrongdoing and restore order.
Instrumental specification (pāvaka-cakṣus) + divine witnessing; implicit threat of Varuṇa’s pāśa encourages correction.
Concealed transgression, slander, covert hostility, ritual impurity.
- पावक (pāvaka)
- moral-ritual detoxification; removal of inner pollution (pāpa/āgaḥ) by clear seeing
- चक्षस् (cakṣasā)
- surveillance as healing; insight that dissolves secrecy and self-deception
- भुरण्यन्तम् (bhuraṇyantam)
- restless mind / roaming desires; also the mobile populace under governance
- अनु (anu)
- inescapable accountability; law that accompanies one everywhere
- वरुण (varuṇa)
- binder of ṛta; the force that restrains excess and restores right measure
Varuṇa as inner law: observe thoughts and actions with a purifying, non-deceptive gaze.
viśuddha (truth)
Slow exhale emphasis (e.g., 4 in / 8 out) to support confession and calming of fear.
A cool-vast sky-ocean with a single luminous eye; it sees without hatred, washing away residue of falsehood.
Clear, ethical lucidity.
Pair recitation with one concrete act of repair (truth spoken, debt repaid, apology offered) to complete the mantra’s ‘order-restoring’ arc.
Keep the relative clause ‘yenā…’ linked smoothly; maintain anuṣṭubh steadiness with a slightly weightier cadence.
Articulate pāvaka clearly (long ā); keep varuṇa with correct dental v and retroflex ṇ.
Low, steady, judicial—like an oath spoken calmly.
If used for śānti after wrongdoing, recite after a brief silence of self-examination; the silence is part of the ‘pāvaka-cakṣus’ effect.
11 times
After conflict, suspected deception/theft, broken trust; personal guilt or moral confusion.
Before making amends; during reconciliation; at dawn for ethical reset.
Clearer conscience, restored trust, pacified atmosphere; reduction of fear born of secrecy.
Do not weaponize as accusation; pair with fairness and due inquiry.
No plant is named; purification is conceptualized as ‘seeing’ plus (ritually) water. The mantra’s technology is forensic and moral: detection itself is cleansing.
Varuṇa’s gaze functions as supra-human policing of the community. The priest operationalizes that gaze in domestic settings, indicating an early integration of ritual authority with social regulation (theft, deceit, pollution).
Varuṇa as moral overseer is strongly RV; the Atharvanic nuance lies in practical deployment for household-level suspicion and purification, with bhuraṇyant- suggesting a socially observable ‘roaming’ that invites ritual scrutiny.
Gopatha commonly frames Varuṇa as enforcer of ṛta through knowledge/vision and binding. The rite works because the deity’s omniscience, once invoked, compels disclosure and enables expiation—restoring order by making the hidden manifest.
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