Atharva Veda 6.6.2: Kanda 6, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 6, Mantra 2
Sukta 6
यो नः॑ सोम सुशं॒सिनो॑ दुः॒शंस॑ आ॒दिदे॑शति । वज्रे॑णास्य॒ मुखे॑ जहि॒ स संपि॑ष्टो॒ अपा॑यति
yó naḥ soma suśaṃsínaḥ duḥśáṃsa ā́dídeśati | vájreṇāsya múkhe jahi | sá saṃpíṣṭo apā́yati ||
Whoso, O Soma, slanderer, denounceth us who are of good praise—smite him with the thunderbolt in the mouth: crushed utterly, he passeth away.
ഹേ സോമ! ഞങ്ങളെ—സുശംസിനഃ, നല്ല കീർത്തിയുള്ളവരെ—ദുശംസ (നിന്ദകൻ) ആയി ആരെങ്കിലും അപവാദം പറയുന്നുവെങ്കിൽ, അവന്റെ വായിൽ തന്നേ വജ്രംകൊണ്ട് പ്രഹരിക്ക; പൂർണ്ണമായി ചതഞ്ഞ് അവൻ അകന്നു പോകട്ടെ.
The meaning
What it says
To Soma: whoever, a slanderer, denounces us who are of good praise—strike him with the thunderbolt in the mouth; crushed, he goes away.
The inner meaning
Hostile speech is treated as a weapon; the counter-weapon targets the mouth—the source of social harm. ‘Vajra in the mouth’ symbolizes decisive interruption of defamatory narrative and restoration of reputational order.
The truth in it
Speech can injure communities as surely as physical blows; societies develop sanctions—moral, legal, and ritual—to stop slander and expel corrosive voices.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Abhicarika (counter-slander / hostile speech neutralization)
Its aim
To silence and expel a slanderer who publicly denounces the sacrificer’s party.
Word by Word
Pada patha
यः । नः । सोम । सु-शंसिनः । दुः-शंसः । आ-दि-देशति । वज्रेण । अस्य । मुखे । जहि । सः । सम्-पिष्टः । अप-आयति ।
- यः
- who (he who)whoever (any such detractor)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- नः
- of us / ourus (our side; the patron and his people)Pronounषष्ठी (सम्बन्धे), बहुवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- सोम
- O SomaNoun (vocative address)पुंलिङ्गः, सम्बोधन, एकवचनम्Role SampradānaRoot सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- सुशंसिनः
- of the well-praising / of the good praiserof good repute/praise (those who speak rightly; the well-praising worshippers)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, षष्ठी, एकवचनम् (सम्बन्धे)Role AdhikaraṇaRoot सु-शंसिन् (प्रातिपदिक; शंस् ‘to praise’ + -इन्)
- दुःशंसः
- the ill-speaker / slandererill-speaking, slanderous (one who utters harmful speech as a weapon)Noun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot दुः-शंस (प्रातिपदिक; शंस् ‘to praise/speak’)
- आदिदेशति
- points out / indicates / directspoints out against, denounces, accuses (hostile designation meant to injure)Verbलट् (वेदे विशेष-प्रयोगः), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role KriyāRoot √दिश् (दिशति) with preverb आ-; reduplicated perfect-like present (Vedic)
- वज्रेण
- with a thunderboltwith the thunderbolt (Indraic weapon; here Soma’s crushing force)Nounपुंलिङ्गः, तृतीया, एकवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot वज्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- अस्य
- of him / hisof him (that slanderer)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः/नपुंसकलिङ्गः, षष्ठी, एकवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- मुखे
- in the mouthNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, सप्तमी, एकवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot मुख (प्रातिपदिक)
- जहि
- strike / slaysmite! slay! (ritual imperative of destruction/subjugation)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), परस्मैपदम्, मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role KriyāRoot √हन् (हनति)
- सः
- hePronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- संपिष्टः
- crushed / ground downParticipleपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्; भूतकर्मणि (क्त)Role KartāRoot सम् + √पिष् (पेषण) → पिष्ट (क्त-प्रत्यय)
- अपायति
- goes away / departsVerbलट्, परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role KriyāRoot अप + √इ (एति) (वेदे: ‘to go away, depart’)
Sandhi Notes
- (1) ‘वज्रे॑णास्य’ = ‘वज्रेण’ + ‘अस्य’ (अ + अ → आ)
- (2) ‘स संपि॑ष्टो॒’ = ‘सः’ + ‘संपिष्टः’ (visarga before sibilant → s)
- Other padas are already in padapāṭha-like form
Seer, deity and metre
- Devata
- Soma (as divine force that punishes false/hostile speech).
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh (probable).
- Rasa
- Raudra and Vira
Sāyaṇa treats duḥśaṃsa as pāruṣya-vaktṛ (abusive speaker) whose ‘pointing out’ is a harmful act of speech. The ‘mouth’ is singled out as the instrument of injury; hence the mantra directs the vajra there. ‘Sampişṭa’ is glossed as nirbalīkṛta/bhagna—broken in power; ‘apāyati’ as apasarati—he is driven off.
Anonymous (Angirasic tone within AVŚ 6; seer not specified)
Counter-slander and hostile speech neutralization; verbal combat charms aligned with ritual power.
Channels Angiras ferocity into the domain of vāc: defending the yajamāna’s standing by ritually disabling harmful speech.
Soma
Soma mediates vitality, inspiration, and sacred exhilaration; as a moral force he punishes falsehood and supports the praised community.
In broader Vedic thought Soma restores vitality and counters wasting; here his ‘healing’ is social—restoring reputation by removing slander.
Protects against defamatory speech and public denunciation; expels the slanderer.
4x8; strong caesura around vajreṇāsya mukhe jahi.
Weapon-word (vajra) and imperative jahi create a sharp metrical ‘strike’ typical of abhicārika diction.
Striking, punitive, expulsive.
Feels like a verbal blow; reinforces confidence that hostile speech can be stopped.
Fashion a speech-substitute: a small lump of clay or food-morsel identified with the slanderer’s ‘mouth’.
Recite the mantra while striking or pressing the substitute with a stone/pestle (vajra-analogue), aiming at the ‘mouth’ point.
Cast the crushed remains away to the south/west (direction of removal), enacting apāyati (‘he departs’).
Optionally perform a protective recitation over the yajamāna’s mouth (or the household’s speech-space), reversing the harm.
Kauśika Sūtra: rites against duḥśaṃsa (evil speech) and enemy-expulsion; applied with crushing/pressing symbolism (edition-dependent numbering).
Atharvan priest as apotropaic specialist: converts hostile speech into a manipulable object, then ritually ‘crushes’ and expels it.
Recited when facing gossip, denunciation, or malicious rumor; may be paired with symbolic ‘striking’ gesture toward the ground or a stone representing vajra.
Before assemblies, legal disputes, public rituals, or when rumor spreads.
Atharvan specialist may perform as protective counter-charm; householders may adopt simplified recitation as prayer for restraint of hostile speech.
Counter-slander/abhicāra protective usage in Kauśika (edition-dependent).
As a protective recitation for composure and reputational resilience, avoiding literal harm-intent.
vajra (thunderbolt) as a mythic-ritual weapon (often enacted via stone/pestle symbolism)
Vajra symbolizes decisive rupture of harmful speech; Soma represents truth-affirming sacred potency that legitimizes the sanction.
Social ‘poison’ of slander; metaphorical pathology of vāc.
Mouth (mukha).
Ritual sanction: ‘strike the mouth’ to halt the harmful output; expel the agent from the group.
Anti-harassment/anti-defamation boundary setting; psychological relief from reputational stress.
A specific slanderer/denouncer.
To silence and drive away a slanderer who denounces the group.
Mythic weaponization (vajra) + targeted body locus (mouth) + expulsion formula (apāyati).
Defamation, hostile public speech, reputational harm.
- सोम (soma)
- sacred exhilaration and truth-power that counters false speech
- सुशंसिन् (suśaṃsin)
- right speech, good repute, socially affirmed truth
- दुःशंस (duḥśaṃsa)
- toxic speech; reputation-destroying force
- आदिदेशति (ādideśati)
- public shaming/accusation as aggressive act
- वज्र (vajra)
- irresistible sanction; cutting truth that breaks falsehood
- मुख (mukha)
- source of vāc; the gate of harm or blessing
- संपिष्ट (saṃpiṣṭa)
- total neutralization; removing capacity to continue harm
- अपायति (apāyati)
- expulsion of negativity from the community
Cut through internal ‘slandering voice’ (self-criticism) and external rumor with clarity.
Viśuddha (speech)
Bhrāmarī (gentle) to soothe speech-center; then silent repetition to ‘seal’ the mouth from reactive words.
A cool Soma-moon light bathing the throat; a vajra of discernment dissolving false words before they leave the mouth.
Upekṣā (equanimity) after firm boundary-setting.
Turn the vajra inward as discrimination: speak only what is true, timely, and beneficial; refuse to amplify rumor.
Deliver vajreṇāsya mukhe jahi as the energetic peak; keep the second hemistich (sa saṃpiṣṭo apāyati) as a falling cadence of expulsion.
Emphasize duḥśaṃsa and mukhe to specify offense and locus; end apāyati with a clean release.
Sharp, clipped, controlled—avoid shouting; let articulation be the ‘vajra.’
Often paired with apotropaic gestures; in ethical modern use, keep intention on stopping harm, not harming persons.
9 times
Being targeted by gossip, denunciation, or workplace/community slander.
Before public interactions; when rumor cycles intensify; as a centering practice to avoid reactive speech.
Greater composure; symbolic severing of rumor’s power; strengthened resolve to maintain truthful speech.
Do not use as justification for vengeance; address real-world defamation through appropriate channels.
Soma is both plant and deity; here its ‘pressed’ potency is weaponized as vajra. The verse exemplifies Atharvanic refunctionalization of a sacrificial substance into an apotropaic force against social aggression (slander).
The community of ‘suśaṃsin’ (right-praising) is morally privileged; the duḥśaṃsa is constructed as a social pollutant whose speech threatens ritual reputation. The charm polices communal boundaries by authorizing violent removal of reputational harm.
The lexemes are RV-attested (duḥśaṃsa, vajra), but the targeting of ‘mouth’ as a ritual locus is characteristically Atharvanic—anatomical precision serving magical pragmatics.
Gopatha’s theory of brahman and sacrifice treats speech as causally efficacious; harmful speech is a real force requiring counter-force. A Soma-addressed charm that destroys the offender’s mouth aligns with that causal model: speech is met with a stronger, ritually authorized speech-act.
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