Atharva Veda 2.24.6: Kanda 2, Anuvaka 3, Sukta 24, Mantra 6
Sukta 24
उप॑ब्दे॒ पुन॑र्वो यन्तु या॒तवः॒ पुन॑र्हे॒तिः कि॑मीदिनीः । यस्य॒ स्थ तम॑त्त॒ यो वः॒ प्राहै॒त् तम॑त्त॒ स्वा मां॒सान्य॑त्त
úpabde púnar vo yantu yātávaḥ púnar hetíḥ kímīdínīḥ | yásya sthá tám atta yó vaḥ práhāít tám atta svā́ māṁsā́ni atta
At this adjuring word, back unto you let the sorcerous goers return—back, too, the missile, and the Kīmīdinī devourers. Whose ye are, him devour; who hath sent you forth, him devour; your own—his very flesh—devour ye.
ഈ ആജ്ഞാവചനം (ഉപബ്ദ) കൊണ്ടു, ഹേ യാതവഃ (മാന്ത്രികമായി സഞ്ചരിക്കുന്നവർ), നിങ്ങൾ വീണ്ടും നിങ്ങളുടെ അടുക്കലേക്കുതന്നെ മടങ്ങിവരിക; ഹേതി (ക്ഷേപായുധം)യും മടങ്ങിവരിക, കിമീദിനീ (ഭക്ഷകികൾ)യും മടങ്ങിവരിക. നിങ്ങൾ ആരുടേതോ, അവനെയേ ഭക്ഷിക്കുവിൻ; നിങ്ങളെ പുറപ്പെടുവിച്ചവനെയേ ഭക്ഷിക്കുവിൻ; നിങ്ങളുടെതായതു—അവന്റെ തന്നെ മാംസം—ഭക്ഷിക്കുവിൻ.
The meaning
What it says
At the spoken adjuration (upa-bde), the yātus (sorcerous agents), the hostile stroke/weapon (hetí), and the devouring Kīmīdinīs are commanded to turn back and consume their own owner/sender—down to his flesh.
The inner meaning
A formula for psychological reversal: fear, intrusive thoughts, and projected malice are not fought directly but “sent back” to their source. The mantra asserts boundary, agency, and moral recoil—hostility collapses into self-consumption.
The truth in it
Harm intended for others tends to rebound upon the one who generates and dispatches it; disciplined speech (brahman/vāc) can re-order perceived chaos and restore protective limits.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Abhicarika (Counter-sorcery / Spell-reversal)
Its aim
To reverse hostile witchcraft so that the demonic agents and the launched harm return to and consume the original sender.
Word by Word
Pada patha
उप॑-ब्दे । पुनः॑-वः । यन्तु । यातवः॑ । पुनः॑-हेतिः । किमी॑दिनीः । यस्य॑ । स्थ । तम् । अत्त । यः । वः॑ । प्र-अहै॑त् । तम् । अत्त । स्वा । मां॒सानि॑ । अत्त
- उपब्दे
- in/at the (place called) Upabda; at the near-sound/uproarat the (protective) utterance/adjuration; upon the spoken charm (as operative speech)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी एकवचन (स्थाने/अधिकरणे)Role अधिकरणRoot उपब्द (प्रातिपदिक) / उप-√वद् (व्युत्पत्तिः)
- पुनः
- again, backIndeclinableअव्ययRoot पुनः (अव्यय)
- वः
- to you / of youyou (pl.); you demons/agents addressedPronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी बहुवचन (एन्क्लिटिक ‘वः’)Role सम्प्रदान (युष्मभ्यं) / सम्बन्ध (युष्माकम्) — सन्दर्भानुसारRoot युष्मद्
- यन्तु
- let (them) go/comelet them go/turn; may they be driven (back)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे) प्रथमपुरुष बहुवचन; परस्मैपदम्Root √या (गत्यर्थ)
- यातवः
- the yātus (sorcerers/demons; harmful beings)sorcerous goers, malignant wanderers; hostile magical agents (yātudhāna-like)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot यातु (प्रातिपदिक)
- पुनः
- again, backIndeclinableअव्ययRoot पुनः (अव्यय)
- हेतिः
- the missile/weapon; (harmful) blowNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot हेति (प्रातिपदिक)
- किमीदिनीः
- the kīmīdinīs (harmful female beings/witches; disease-demons)the kīmīdinīs—devouring/afflicting female demons; personified disease-bringersNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot किमीदिनि (प्रातिपदिक; ‘किम्’ + ‘ईदिन्/ईदिनि’ प्रकारः)
- यस्य
- whosewhose; of whom (the one to whom they belong)Pronounषष्ठी एकवचन (पुं/नपुं)Role सम्बन्धRoot यद्
- स्थ
- you are / you standyou are; you stand as (belonging/attached)Verbलट्/लोट् मध्यमपुरुष बहुवचन; परस्मैपदम् (वैदिक रूप ‘स्थ’ = ‘स्थ’/‘स्थ’ < ‘स्थ’ = ‘स्थ’ for ‘स्थ’ = ‘स्थ’ i.e., ‘you are/stand’)Root अस् (√अस्)
- तम्
- him/thathim; that very one (the owner/author of the harm)Pronounद्वितीया एकवचन (पुं/नपुं)Role कर्मRoot तद्
- अत्त
- eat/devour!eat, devour; consume (as punitive retribution by demons)Verbलोट् मध्यमपुरुष एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्Root √अद् (भक्षणे)
- यः
- whowho; whichever personPronounप्रथमा एकवचन (पुं)Role कर्तृRoot यद्
- वः
- you (pl.)you (pl.); you demons/agents addressedPronounद्वितीया बहुवचन (एन्क्लिटिक ‘वः’)Role कर्मRoot युष्मद्
- प्राहैत्
- struck/assailed (you)Verbलुङ् (अorist) प्रथमपुरुष एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्Root प्र-√हा (त्यागे/हनने) अथवा प्र-√ह (प्रहरणे) — वैदिक रूप
- तम्
- him/thathim; that senderPronounद्वितीया एकवचन (पुं/नपुं)Role कर्मRoot तद्
- अत्त
- eat/devour!devour; seize and consumeVerbलोट् मध्यमपुरुष एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्Root √अद् (भक्षणे)
- स्वा
- own, his ownyour own; belonging to yourselves (i.e., take your rightful prey—your proper target)Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचन (मांसानि इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Role कर्म (मांसानि-सम्बद्धम्)Root स्व (प्रातिपदिक)
- मांसानि
- flesh (pieces of flesh)fleshes; bodily tissues (the concrete seat of suffering and punishment)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया बहुवचनRole कर्मRoot मांस (प्रातिपदिक)
- अत्त
- eat/devour!devour; eat up (complete consumption as total neutralization)Verbलोट् मध्यमपुरुष एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्Root √अद् (भक्षणे)
Sandhi Notes
- पाठे ‘उप॑ब्दे॒’ इति एकपदम् (स्थानीय/नामरूप) — सन्धिविच्छेदः न आवश्यकः। ‘पुन॑र्हे॒तिः’ = ‘पुनः + हेतिः’ (विसर्गस्य र्-आदेशः)। ‘प्राहै॒त्’ वैदिक-सन्धि/रूप: ‘प्र + आहैत्/अहैत्’ इत्यत्र दीर्घ/आगमः
- अर्थतः ‘प्र-√हा/√ह’ (प्रहार) का लुङ्-रूप। ‘स्वा मां॒सानि’ = ‘स्वा + मांसानि’ (सन्धि नहीं; पदच्छेद मात्र)।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic/Angiras-type attribution (hymn-level tradition; verse functions within a counter-sorcery complex).
- Devata
- Mantra-directed to hostile agents (yātavaḥ, kīmīdinīḥ) under the coercive power of brahman (effective speech).
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh (probable; confirm against pada-count in a metrical edition).
- Rasa
- Raudra and Vira
Sāyaṇa construes the mantra as a pratyāvartana (reversion) of abhicāra: the yātavaḥ (hostile magical emissaries) and kīmīdinīḥ (flesh-eating afflictive beings) are commanded, by the force of the Atharvanic utterance (upabde), to recoil upon their sender. ‘punaḥ’ marks the return of both the ‘heti’ (weapon = spell/infliction) and its agents. ‘yasya sthá’ identifies the true proprietor (the witch/sorcerer); the demons are enjoined to consume him, specifically his ‘māṁsāni’, i.e., to make the punishment corporeal and exhaustive.
AVŚ 2.24 (entire hymn-complex); AVŚ rakṣoghna/pratyāvartana clusters (general: yātu-, kṛtyā-, rakṣas-reversal materials)
Atharvan/Āṅgiras (hymn-complex attribution; anti-yātu pratyāvartana formula)
Counter-sorcery (abhicāra-pratīkara), rakṣoghna coercive speech, reversal of launched harm (heti) and devouring afflictions (kīmīdin).
Embodies Atharvanic brahman as operative command: the seer’s authority is not praise but juridical compulsion—ordering hostile beings to return to their owner.
Brahmanic vāc as coercive power over yātavaḥ, hetí, and kīmīdinīḥ (hostile agents addressed)
Restores ṛta-like order by turning adharma (unwarranted aggression) back to its origin; makes the ‘sent’ return to sender.
Neutralizes wasting/gnawing afflictions by command and recoil; arrests the ‘devouring’ process by redirecting it.
Creates an apotropaic perimeter: the hostile missile cannot lodge in the patient; it is compelled to retreat.
Anuṣṭubh (Atharvavedic anuṣṭubh with formulaic repetition)
4 pādas × ~8 syllables; cadence tightened by repeated punaḥ- and imperative atta.
Possible minor resolution/irregularity around enclitics (vo, yaḥ/yo) and sandhi; Atharvanic recitation often tolerates small metrical slack in refrain-like charms.
Percussive and juridical—short imperatives and repetitions create a ‘hammering back’ effect.
Induces firmness and recoil-imagery; suitable for forceful, protective utterance rather than lyrical expansion.
Identify the patient/household as afflicted by suspected abhicāra (hostile sending).
The Atharvan priest performs an apotropaic recitation facing the direction associated with the suspected sender (or symbolically ‘outward’ from the protected space).
During recitation, a gesture of ‘sending back’ is enacted: casting away (or sweeping out) from the body/threshold, as if expelling emissaries.
A protective boundary is reinforced (sprinkling/encircling in domestic practice), while the mantra’s ‘punaḥ’ is emphasized to effect recoil.
Conclude by sealing the protection with a final utterance and dismissal of the agents, conceptually transferring the harm to its owner.
Kauśika Sūtra: pratyāvartana/abhicāra-nivāraṇa sections (exact sūtra numbering varies by edition; align with the counter-charm sequences for ‘returning the spell to the sender’).
Atharvan/Brahman as apotropaic specialist: diagnostician of hostile sending, reciter of pratyāvartana-mantras, and ritual technician who ‘redirects’ the agency of harm back to its source.
Recited when suspecting bewitchment, malignant envy, or unexplained wasting; spoken over the patient or at the threshold to ‘turn back’ incoming harm.
At onset of suspected attack; often dusk/night in domestic apotropaic practice; also during liminal moments (returning from hostile encounter).
Householder-atharvan (or purohita) performs forceful recitation; may accompany with boundary gestures (sprinkling, circling, spitting-away in some traditions—edition/region dependent).
Kauśika: general pratyāvartana/rakṣoghna applications for yātu/kṛtyā (exact sūtra varies by mapping; to be pinned to the hymn’s ritual rubric in a Kauśika-indexed edition).
Used as a protective affirmation/mantra in culturally continuous settings; best framed as traditional apotropaic recitation rather than literal harm-wishing.
heti (missile/weapon as metaphor for a launched spell); kīmīdinīḥ (personified devouring affliction)
No physical materia is prescribed in the verse; the ‘substance’ is the launched harm itself (heti) and the life-substance (māṃsa) of the perpetrator—dramatizing total reversal. In Atharvanic logic, vāc substitutes for herb/amulet by acting directly on personified forces.
Afflictions conceived as devouring/gnawing forces (kīmīdinīḥ): wasting, ulcerative/parasite-like conditions; also ‘bewitchment’ symptoms (yātu).
मांस (flesh) as total bodily substance (not a specific organ).
Pratyāvartana (reversal): the harmful agent is commanded to return and consume its sender/owner; psychosomatic relief through restored boundary and confidence.
Frames disease as āgantuka (externally caused) / bhūta-graha-like intrusion; ‘devouring’ aligns with dhātu-kṣaya imagery and krimi/parasite metaphors (without strict one-to-one identification).
Stress-related ‘intrusive harm’ models (nocebo, harassment/abuse effects), and imagery used in trauma-informed boundary-setting; culturally, also parallels to ‘return to sender’ protective prayers.
Hostile magician/perpetrator (implicit) and dispatched entities (explicit).
Spell-reversal: yātu-agents, the launched stroke (heti), and devourers are turned back to consume the original sender/owner.
Coercive imperative + identification-by-ownership (yasya stha…) + recoil command (punaḥ…yantu) + enforced consumption (atta).
Witchcraft, curses, hostile ‘projectiles,’ devouring disease-demons.
- उपब्दे (upa-bde)
- vāc as coercive medicine (pharmakon): speech that binds, turns, and redirects forces
- यातवः (yātavaḥ)
- mobile, insinuating harms—witchcraft, envy, intrusive afflictions
- हेतिः (hetíḥ)
- a ‘launched’ spell/curse; any targeted harm conceived as a projectile
- किमीदिन्यः/किमीदिनीः (kīmīdinīḥ)
- consuming disease-forces: wasting, ulceration, parasitic gnawing, obsessional ‘eating away’
- अत्त (atta)
- total neutralization by forced self-referential return; the agent is made to undo itself
- स्वाः मांसानि (svā māṃsāni)
- the perpetrator’s life-substance becomes the field of recoil; complete karmic/ritual boomerang
Boundary and recoil: visualize hostile intention returning to its origin without lodging in you.
maṇipūra (protective heat/agency)
Short, firm exhale on imperatives (punaḥ…yantu / atta), with calm nasal inhale between pādas.
A dark ‘missile’ curves back like a boomerang; devourers turn and dissolve into the sender’s shadow, leaving your body clear and intact.
Alert, defended steadiness (rakṣā-bhāva) without panic.
Chant in a grounded stance; end with a cooling, non-agitated settling (silent breath) to avoid carrying raudra into daily interactions.
Differentiate dental t (tam, atta) from retroflex ṭ (if present in reciter’s dialect—avoid retroflexing here).; Keep kīmīdinīḥ with long ī vowels; avoid collapsing to short i.; Maintain anusvāra in māṃsāni with nasalization before s.
Recite with clear udātta emphasis on accented syllables per padapāṭha; keep refrain segments (punaḥ…yantu / punaḥ…hetiḥ / atta) rhythmically consistent.
Treat enclitics (vo, yaḥ/yo) lightly; land weight on imperatives (yantu, atta) and key nouns (yātavaḥ, hetiḥ, kīmīdinīḥ).
Firm, edged, declarative (not shouted); ‘command voice’ suited to apotropaic coercion.
This is a pratyāvartana refrain: power lies in exact repetition and unbroken cadence; avoid improvising synonyms during ritual use.
7 times
Feeling targeted by malice, harassment, envy, or ‘sent harm’; sudden sense of psychic intrusion; culturally framed bewitchment anxiety.
After a disturbing encounter; at night before sleep for protective closure; during a protective household round at doors/windows.
Restored sense of safety and agency; reduction of fear; traditional ‘return-to-sender’ protection framing.
Do not use to justify retaliation or paranoia; if severe anxiety/medical symptoms persist, seek professional care alongside spiritual support.
No explicit plant or drug is named in this verse; efficacy is framed as verbal technology (upabde) that re-targets agency. In Atharvanic practice, such pratyāvartana verses are often paired with boundary-actions (sweeping, sprinkling, amulets), but here the operative ‘substance’ is the metaphorical heti (weapon/spell) and the embodied devourers (kīmīdinīḥ).
The verse presupposes a specialist who can diagnose ‘sent’ harm and compel its return—supporting the Atharvan priest’s authority as manager of invisible aggression within social competition. It also encodes a moral-juridical logic: harm belongs to its author (‘yasya sthá’), and the community’s protection is achieved by reallocating violence back to the perpetrator.
The diction is characteristically Atharvanic in its direct coercive address to demonic agents and its juridical recoil-formula (‘punaḥ… yantu’). Terms like kīmīdinīḥ are more at home in AV demonology than RV hymn-theology, reflecting a genre shift toward domestic threat-management and personified afflictions.
In Gopatha’s Atharvanic theology, brahman as efficacious speech compels beings and outcomes; counter-sorcery works by correct identification and re-assignment of the ‘owner’ of harm. This verse exemplifies that logic: the mantra does not merely ward off, it adjudicates and redirects, making the sender the proper locus of the affliction.
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