Sukta 5
Rishi: Anonymous/Brāhmaṇa-style prose unit within AV 15 (traditionally linked to Atharvanic redactors)
Devata: Knowledge (Veda) as efficacious power; implicitly Rudraic guardianship in the surrounding context
Chandas: Mixed/prose-like Atharvanic style (not a strict metrical ṛc)
Mantras
Mantra 1
३,६, ९,१२,१५,१८,२१ द्विपदा प्राजापत्याऽनुष्टुप्; ४ त्रिपदा स्वराट् प्राजापत्या पङ्क्तिः; तस्मै॒ प्राच्या॑ दि॒शो अ॑न्तर्दे॒शाद् भ॒वमि॑ष्वा॒सम॑नुष्ठा॒तार॑मकुर्वन्
For him, from the inner realm of the eastern quarter, they appointed Bhava, the Archer, to stand attendant.
Mantra 2
भ॒व ए॑नमिष्वा॒सः प्राच्या॑ दि॒शो अ॑न्तर्दे॒शाद॑नुष्ठा॒तानु॑ तिष्ठति॒ नैनं॑ श॒र्वो न भ॒वो नेशा॑नः
Bhava, the Archer, from the inner realm of the eastern quarter, standeth attendant upon him: neither Śarva, nor Bhava, nor Īśāna shall smite him.
Mantra 3
नास्य॑ प॒शून् न स॑मा॒नान् हि॑नस्ति॒ य ए॒वं वेद॑
He harmeth not his cattle, nor his peers—whoso thus hath knowledge.
Mantra 4
तस्मै॒ दक्षि॑णाया दि॒शो अ॑न्तर्दे॒शाच्छ॒र्वमि॑ष्वा॒सम॑नुष्ठा॒तार॑मकुर्वन्
For him, from the inner realm of the southern quarter, they appointed Śarva, the Archer, to stand attendant.
Mantra 5
श॒र्व ए॑नमिश्वा॒सो दक्षि॑णाया दि॒शो अ॑न्तर्दे॒शाद॑नुष्ठा॒तानु॑ तिष्ठति॒ नैनं॑ श॒र्वो न भ॒वो नेशा॑नः
From the southern quarter, from the mid-region, the Archer—Śarva—stands attendant upon him as the performer; and Śarva shall not smite him, nor Bhava, nor Īśāna.
Mantra 6
नास्य॑ प॒शून् न स॑मा॒नान् हि॑नस्ति॒ य ए॒वं वेद॑
He injureth not his cattle, nor his peers, who knoweth thus.
Mantra 7
तस्मै॑ प्र॒तीच्या॑ दि॒शो अ॑न्तर्दे॒शात् प॑शु॒पति॑मिष्वा॒सम॑नुष्ठा॒तार॑मकुर्वन्
For him, from the western quarter, from the mid-region, they appointed Paśupati the Archer as attendant-performer.
Mantra 8
प॒शु॒पति॑रेनमिष्वा॒सः प्र॒तीच्या॑ दि॒शो अ॑न्तर्दे॒शाद॑नुष्ठा॒तानु॑ तिष्ठति॒ नैनं॑ श॒र्वो न भ॒वो नेशा॑नः
Paśupati, the Archer, from the western quarter, from the mid-region, stands attendant upon him as the performer; and Śarva shall not smite him, nor Bhava, nor Īśāna.
Mantra 9
नास्य॑ प॒शून् न स॑मा॒नान् हि॑नस्ति॒ य ए॒वं वेद॑
He injureth not his cattle, nor his peers, who knoweth thus.
Mantra 10
तस्मा॒ उदी॑च्या दि॒शो अ॑न्तर्दे॒शाद॒ग्रं दे॒वमि॑ष्वा॒सम॑नुष्ठा॒तार॑मकुर्वन्
For him, from the mid-region of the northern quarters, they appointed as foremost a divine Archer, to stand attendant as his follower-guard.
Mantra 11
उ॒ग्र ए॑नं दे॒व इ॑ष्वा॒स उदी॑च्या दि॒शो अ॑न्तर्दे॒शाद॑नुष्ठा॒तानु॑ तिष्ठति॒ नैनं॑ श॒र्वो न भ॒वो नेशा॑न
Fierce, the divine Archer from the mid-region of the northern quarters stands close in attendance upon him; neither Śarva, nor Bhava, nor Īśāna reaches him.
Mantra 12
नास्य॑ प॒शून् न स॑मा॒नान् हि॑नस्ति॒ य ए॒वं वेद॑
He harms not his cattle, nor his peers, who thus hath knowledge.
Mantra 13
तस्मै॑ ध्रु॒वाया॑ दि॒शो अ॑न्तर्दे॒शाद् रु॒द्रमि॑ष्वा॒सम॑नुष्ठा॒तार॑मकुर्वन्
For him, from the mid-region of the steadfast quarter, they appointed Rudra himself—an Archer divine—to stand attendant as his guard.
Mantra 14
रु॒द्र ए॑नमिष्वा॒सो ध्रु॒वाया॑ दि॒शो अ॑न्तर्दे॒शादनु॑ष्ठा॒तानु॑ तिष्ठति॒ नैनं॑ श॒र्वो न भ॒वो नेशा॑नः
Rudra, an Archer, from the mid-region of the steadfast quarter, stands attendant upon him; neither Śarva, nor Bhava, nor Īśāna comes nigh unto him.
Mantra 15
नास्य॑ प॒शून् न स॑मा॒नान् हि॑नस्ति॒ य ए॒वं वेद॑
He harmeth not his cattle, nor his fellows of like estate—whoso thus hath knowledge.
Mantra 16
तस्मा॑ ऊ॒र्ध्वाया॑ दि॒शो अ॑न्तर्दे॒शान्म॑हादे॒वमि॑ष्वा॒सम॑नुष्ठा॒तार॑मकुर्वन्
Therefore, from the mid-region of the Upward Quarter, they appointed Mahādeva the Archer to be the Attendant-Guardian.
Mantra 17
म॒हा॒दे॒व ए॑नमिष्वा॒स ऊ॒र्ध्वाया॑ दि॒शो अ॑न्तर्दे॒शाद॑नुष्ठा॒तानु॑ तिष्ठति॒ नैनं॑ श॒र्वो न भ॒वो नेशा॑नः
Mahādeva, the Archer, from the mid-region of the Upward Quarter, standeth attending after him; him neither Śarva, nor Bhava, nor Īśāna injureth.
Mantra 18
नास्य॑ प॒शून् न स॑मा॒नान् हि॑नस्ति॒ य ए॒वं वेद॑
He harmeth not his cattle, nor his fellows of like estate—whoso thus hath knowledge.
Mantra 19
तस्मै॒ सर्वे॑भ्यो अन्तर्दे॒शेभ्य॒ ईशा॑नमिष्वा॒सम॑नुष्ठा॒तार॑मकुर्वन्
For him, from all the intermediate regions, they appointed Īśāna the Archer to be the Attendant-Guardian.
Mantra 20
ईशा॑न एनमिष्वा॒सः सर्वे॑भ्यो अन्तर्दे॒शेभ्यो॑ऽनुष्ठा॒तानु॑ तिष्ठति॒ नैनं॑ श॒र्वो न भ॒वो नेशा॑नः
Īśāna, as an attendant standing after him, abides for him against all archers from the inner regions; Śarva smites him not, Bhava smites him not, nor Īśāna.
Mantra 21
नास्य॑ प॒शून् न स॑मा॒नान् हि॑नस्ति॒ य ए॒वं वेद॑
He harms not his cattle, he harms not his fellows, who knoweth thus.
Frequently Asked Questions
That correct knowledge (“who knows thus”) becomes protective in real life—especially safeguarding cattle/wealth and preventing harm within one’s circle of equals and associates.
The archer is a guardian-attendant appointed in a specific quarter, expressing protection as something spatially installed around the beneficiary, with the north highlighted as a strong station of defense.
Not explicitly. Its emphasis is on recital and understanding: the efficacy is tied to the formula of knowledge (“ya evaṃ veda”) and the conceptual placement of guardians in the directions.
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