Atharva Veda 5.19.3: Kanda 5, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 19, Mantra 3
Sukta 19
ये ब्रा॑ह्म॒णं प्र॒त्यष्ठी॑व॒न् ये वा॑स्मिञ्छु॒ल्कमी॑षि॒रे। अ॒स्नस्ते मध्ये॑ कु॒ल्यायाः॒ केशा॒न् खाद॑न्त आसते
yé brā́hmaṇaṁ práty-aṣṭhīvan yé vā́smíñ chulkám īṣiré | asnáste mádhye kulyā́yāḥ kéśān khā́danta āsate ||
They who have spat in scorn against a Brahman, or who within this realm have sought to exact a fee—unbathed, in the midst of a ditch, they sit abiding, gnawing at their own hair.
ബ്രാഹ്മണനെ അവഹേളിച്ച് തുപ്പിയവരും, അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ഈ രാജ്യത്തിനകത്ത് ശുൽകം/ഫീ പിരിക്കാൻ ശ്രമിച്ചവരും—അവർ സ്നാനം ചെയ്യാതെ അശുദ്ധരായി, കുഴി/കുല്യയുടെ നടുവിൽ ഇരുന്നു, സ്വന്തം മുടി തന്നെ കടിച്ചുതിന്നിക്കൊണ്ട് കഴിയുന്നു.
The meaning
What it says
Those who spit in contempt at a Brahman, or who seek to exact a fee within this realm, are pictured as unbathed, sitting in a ditch, gnawing their own hair—an image of disgrace and self-consuming misery.
The inner meaning
Sacral violation (brahma-droha) rebounds inward: contempt and exploitation corrode the perpetrator’s psyche, producing impurity, social exclusion, and compulsive self-harm (hair-gnawing as guilt/derangement).
The truth in it
Abuse of the sacred and predatory extraction of value ultimately destroys the abuser’s dignity and stability; moral pollution becomes lived suffering.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Abhicarika (Punitive/Apotropaic against brahma-droha); also Rajakarmani (Royal polity-protection)
Its aim
To deter and ritually punish those who insult, harm, or extort Brahmans; to protect the kingdom from the consequences of brahman-slaying/abuse.
Word by Word
Pada patha
ये । ब्राह्मणम् । प्रति । अष्ठीवन् । ये । वा । अस्मिन् । शुल्कम् । ईषिरे । अस्नस्ते । मध्ये । कुल्यायाः । केशान् । खादन्तः । आसते ।
- ये
- who (those who)those who (relative plural), the offenders in viewPronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot यद् (sarvanāma-prātipadika)
- ब्राह्मणम्
- a Brahmina Brahman; the sacral person whose injury rebounds as sin and political ruinNounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot ब्राह्मण (prātipadika)
- प्रति
- against, towardsagainst, in opposition to (hostile direction)Indeclinableउपसर्ग/अव्ययम्Root प्रति
- अष्ठीवन्
- they spatthey spat (upon); a contemptuous, polluting assault (Sayana: avamāna-lakṣaṇa)Verbलुङ् (आगम-रहितः/छान्दसः), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथम-पुरुषः, बहुवचनम्Root ष्ठीव् (धातु; ‘to spit’)
- ये
- who (those who)those who (again introducing a second class)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot यद् (sarvanāma-prātipadika)
- वा
- oror, alternatively (inclusive enumeration)IndeclinableनिपातःRoot वा
- अस्मिन्
- in thisin this (realm/kingdom/community), i.e., within the polityPronounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot अयम्/इदम् (sarvanāma-prātipadika)
- शुल्कम्
- fee, price, tollfee, levy, exaction; here wrongful ‘price’ demanded from/for a Brahman (illicit taxation/bribe)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot शुल्क (prātipadika)
- ईषिरे
- they sought/desiredthey sought/claimed/desired; pressed for (greedy demand)Verbलिट् (परिपूर्ण/छान्दस-प्रयोगः), आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथम-पुरुषः, बहुवचनम्Root ईष् (धातु; ‘to seek/desire/strive for’)
- अस्नाः
- stonesNounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot अस्न (prātipadika; ‘stone’)
- ते
- they (those)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot तद् (sarvanāma-prātipadika)
- मध्ये
- in the middlein the middle, withinNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, सप्तमी-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot मध्य (prātipadika)
- कुल्यायाः
- of the channel/ditchof a channel/ditch; a drainage trench (place of impurity)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, षष्ठी-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot कुल्या (prātipadika)
- केशान्
- hair (locks)hair; emblem of disgrace when gnawed/defiledNounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्Role KarmaRoot केश (prātipadika)
- खादन्तः
- eating, chewinggnawing/eating; a grotesque punishment-image (as if vermin)Verb (participle)वर्तमान-कृदन्तः (शतृ), परस्मैपदी, पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot खाद् (धातु; ‘to eat/chew’)
- आसते
- they sit/liethey sit/abide; they are made to remain (fixed in that miserable state)Verbलट्, आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथम-पुरुषः, बहुवचनम्Root आस् (धातु; ‘to sit’)
Sandhi Notes
- ये | ब्राह्मणम् | प्रति | अष्ठीवन् | ये | वा | अस्मिन् | शुल्कम् | ईषिरे || अस्नाः | ते | मध्ये | कुल्यायाः | केशान् | खादन्तः | आसते । मुख्य-सन्धयः:
- (1) प्र॒त्यष्ठी॑वन् = प्रति + अष्ठीवन् (इ/अ संयोगे ‘य्’ आगमः) ।
- (2) वा॑स्मिञ् = वा + अस्मिन् (अ + अ → आ; तथा ‘अस्मिन्’ का छान्दस-रूप ‘अस्मिञ्’) ।
- (3) छु॒ल्कमी॑षि॒रे = शुल्कम् + ईषिरे (म् + ई → म्-ई; पदसंयोग) ।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic/Angirasa tradition (hymn against brahma-droha; specific r̥ṣi attribution varies by anukramaṇī traditions)
- Devata
- Brahman (sacral power), and the punitive force of brahma-tejas (impersonal)
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh (predominant in this section)
- Rasa
- Bhayankara and Bibhatsa
Sayana treats the verse as a denunciation of brahma-droha: contempt (spitting) and fiscal oppression (śulka) directed toward Brahmans. The ‘ditch’ (kulyā) and ‘unbathed’ state signify ritual degradation; ‘eating hair’ is an emblematic, hell-like retribution (naraka-prāya) meant to terrify and restrain the king’s agents and the community.
Angiras/Atharvanic punitive strand (anukramaṇī attributions vary for AV 5.19)
Abhicārika and rājakarman protections: safeguarding brahma-tejas and deterring brahma-droha through vivid punitive imagery.
Represents the Angiras-side severity: speech-magic that enforces sacral-social boundaries and protects the realm from the fallout of insulting brahmanical power.
Brahman / brahma-tejas (punitive sacral power)
Brahman is the ordering potency of vāc and rite; when violated, it manifests as retributive disorder upon the violator and destabilization of the polity.
Protects the kingdom and sacrificial order by deterring contempt, extortion, and sacrilege.
4 × 8; compact relative clauses (ye… ye…) then a stark punitive tableau
Legal-moral ‘case listing’ followed by imagistic sentence; typical AV juridical curse style.
Measured accusation → sudden grim picture.
Creates moral dread and social deterrence; ‘visualizes’ consequence as present reality.
The Atharvan priest recites the mantra over water for sprinkling (prokṣaṇa) and/or over a boundary spot of the settlement.
The water is used to sprinkle the king’s court/assembly or the suspected offender, marking removal of pollution and imprecation of the stated fate.
A symbolic ‘ditch’ may be indicated (or a low, impure place), to which the offender is ritually relegated by gesture (nyāsa/diśā-nirdeśa).
Kauśika Sūtra: brahma-droha/brahmahatyā-prāyaścitta and rājābhiśasti contexts (general application to AV 5.19 as a kṣatriya-restraint and rāṣṭra-protection set).
Atharvan/Brahman priest as apotropaic specialist: he voices the imprecation, performs sprinkling, and ritually ‘turns back’ (pratyavāya) the sin upon the aggressor.
Recited in royal/communal settings to warn against exploitation of priests/ritual specialists; also as a moral boundary text in disputes.
During assemblies, legal disputes, or when brahmanical rights are threatened.
Brahman/atharvan reciter as guardian of sacral law; the king’s chaplain role is implied.
Kauśika contains prayogas for rāṣṭra-rakṣā and for countering brahma-droha (citations vary by edition); AV 5.19 is used as a deterrent/warding recitation in some traditions.
As ethical reflection rather than literal cursing; avoid using to harass individuals.
kulyā (ditch/channel as locus of impurity); keśa (hair as token of disgrace and self-consuming guilt)
Implicit via ‘asnastē’ (lack of bathing/purifying water)
Purity substances are inverted: no bath (no apas), only ditch-impurity; hair becomes food—self-consumption as karmic recoil.
Hair (keśa) as sign of self-harm/disgrace (symbolic pathology)
Social sanction narrative: corruption/abuse leading to exclusion, shame spirals, and self-destructive behavior.
Brahma-drohins; extortionists
Punish/deter those who insult Brahmans or extort within the realm; protect sacral authority and polity.
Nindā-śāpa (curse through denunciation), public shaming imagery, ritual ‘placing’ of offenders in impurity-locus (kulyā).
Sacral insult, social corruption, destabilization of rāṣṭra
- ब्राह्मण (brāhmaṇa)
- sacral order, conscience, lawful authority of vāc
- प्रत्यष्ठीवन् (pratyaṣṭhīvan)
- public contempt; ritual/social defilement
- शुल्कम् (śulkam)
- extortion; unjust extraction; corruption of exchange
- अस्नस्ते (asnastē)
- impurity; refusal/loss of purification and civility
- कुल्या (kulyā)
- locus of pollution; social/ritual low-ground
- केशान् खादन्तः (keśān khādantaḥ)
- self-consuming guilt; madness; loss of honor
Purifying speech and intention; restraint from contempt and exploitation.
Viśuddha (ethical speech)
Slow breath with mindful pause before speaking (mauna-bhāva).
A cleansing water-stream washing away spittle/impurity; hair becomes orderly (self-respect restored) through repentance.
Ethical vigilance; humility before sacred learning.
Use as a mirror: observe impulses to scorn or extract; replace with truthful, measured speech and fair exchange.
Recite with even anuṣṭubh pacing; keep the two ‘ye… ye…’ clauses parallel and balanced.
Slight pause after īṣire; then deliver the consequence image in a lower, grave tone.
Grave, judicial; not aggressive shouting.
Punitive verses are traditionally recited with restraint; the force is in clarity and ‘placing’ the image, not volume.
1 times
Community conflict involving religious insult, corruption, extortion, or abuse of vulnerable ritual specialists.
As a traditional warning text in ethical instruction or reflective reading; in ritual context only within legitimate tradition.
Deterrence of harmful behavior; reinforcement of ethical speech and fair dealings.
Avoid weaponizing scripture against individuals; prioritize due process and compassion.
No plant is invoked here; instead, impurity-loci (kulyā) and bodily tokens (hair) function as ‘material symbols’ of guilt. The rite operates through social-ritual semiotics rather than pharmacology.
The Brahman is constructed as inviolable; even contempt (spitting) and economic coercion (śulka) are framed as threats to the polity. The verse presumes Brahman privilege and casts royal/administrative abuse as a cosmic-political crime.
The diction is markedly Atharvanic: concrete social offenses (extortion, insult) and punitive imagery replace RV’s more sacrificial-cosmic register. The legal-social sense of śulka is more foregrounded than in most RV contexts.
Gopatha repeatedly treats brahma-tejas as a real, dangerous force: injury to Brahmans rebounds upon the aggressor and the king’s realm. This hymn’s efficacy is thus grounded in the doctrine that brahman-power, once provoked, becomes a polity-destroying fire unless ritually checked.
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