Atharva Veda 7.76.5: Kanda 7, Anuvaka 8, Sukta 76, Mantra 5
Sukta 76
वि॒द्म वै ते॑ जायान्य॒ जानं॒ यतो॑ जायान्य॒ जाय॑से । क॒थं ह॒ तत्र॒ त्वं ह॑नो॒ यस्य॑ कृ॒ण्मो ह॒विर्गृ॒हे
vidmá vái te jāyānya jánam yáto jāyānya jā́yase | katháṃ há tátra tváṃ hanó yásya kṛṇmó havír gṛhé ||
We know, in sooth, thy birth, O Jāyānya—whence, O Jāyānya, thou art born. How then shalt thou there smite him in whose house we make the oblation?
ഓ ജായാന്യാ, നിന്റെ ജന്മം ഞങ്ങൾ സത്യമായി അറിയുന്നു—ഏതു മൂലത്തിൽ നിന്നാണ്, ഓ ജായാന്യാ, നീ ജനിച്ചതെന്ന്. അങ്ങനെ ആയാൽ, ഞങ്ങൾ ഹവിർ അർപ്പിക്കുന്ന ഈ ഗൃഹത്തിൽ, ആരുടെ വീട്ടിലാണ് ഞങ്ങൾ ഹവിർഗൃഹത്തിൽ നിവേദ്യം നടത്തുന്നതോ, അവനെ അവിടെ നീ എങ്ങനെ പ്രഹരിക്കും?
The meaning
What it says
We know your birth, O Jāyānya—whence you are born. How then will you strike him in whose house we make the oblation?
The inner meaning
By bringing the fear into knowledge (vidma) and placing life within a protected ritual container (havis in the home), the intrusive force loses its leverage. Knowing the origin of the problem reduces its power.
The truth in it
Naming and understanding an affliction, and establishing protective order in one’s ‘house’ (body/home/community), diminishes harm and restores agency.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Bhaisajya (Healing) / Apotropaic (house-protection)
Its aim
To disable the jāyānya-affliction by asserting knowledge of its origin and by establishing the house as ritually defended through oblation.
Word by Word
Pada patha
विद्म । वै । ते । जायान्य । जानम् । यतः । जायान्य । जायसे । कथम् । ह । तत्र । त्वम् । हनोः । यस्य । कृण्मः । हविः । गृहे ।
- विद्म
- we knowVerbलिट् (परिपूर्ण/परोक्श) 1पुरुष बहुवचन, परस्मैपदRole KartāRoot √विद् (विदँ ज्ञाने)
- वै
- indeed, surelyindeed, verily (emphatic particle)IndeclinableनिपातRoot वै (निपात)
- ते
- of you, yourthy/your (addressing the affliction-person)Pronounषष्ठी एकवचन (एन्क्लिटिक)Role सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root त्वद्- (युष्मद्-प्रातिपदिक)
- जायानि
- O wife (jāyānī)Nounसम्बोधन एकवचन (स्त्रीलिङ्ग)Role सम्बोधनRoot जायानी- (स्त्री; ‘पत्नी/जाया’)
- अजानम्
- (one) not knowingAdjective (used substantively)वर्तमान कृदन्त (शतृ/शानच्-भाव), नपुंसकलिङ्ग द्वितीया एकवचनRole KarmaRoot अ- + √ज्ञा (ज्ञा अवबोधने) → अजान- (‘not knowing’)
- यतः
- from where, whencewhence, from which (source)Indeclinableअव्यय (अपादानार्थ/हेतौ)Role Apādāna/HetuRoot यतः (यद्-प्रातिपदिक + तस्)
- जायानि
- O wifeNounसम्बोधन एकवचन (स्त्रीलिङ्ग)Role सम्बोधनRoot जायानी-
- जायसे
- you are born / you come into beingthou art born/arise (come into being; manifest)Verbलट् 2पुरुष एकवचन, आत्मनेपदRole KartāRoot √जन् (जनीँ प्रादुर्भावे) → जायते
- कथम्
- how?Indeclinableप्रश्नार्थक अव्ययRoot कथम् (किम्-प्रातिपदिक)
- ह
- indeed/then (emphatic particle)indeed/now (enclitic intensifier)IndeclinableनिपातRoot ह (निपात)
- तत्र
- therethere, in that place (the ritual arena/household)Indeclinableदेशवाचक अव्ययRole AdhikaraṇaRoot तत्र (तद्-प्रातिपदिक + त्र)
- त्वम्
- youthou (the affliction addressed directly)Pronounप्रथमा एकवचनRole KartāRoot युष्मद्- (त्वद्-)
- हनः
- you strike/killVerbलट् 2पुरुष एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole KartāRoot √हन् (हनँ हिंसायाम्)
- यस्य
- whose / of whomof whom/whose (the sacrificer/householder)Pronounषष्ठी एकवचन (पुं/नपुं)Role सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root यद्-प्रातिपदिक
- कृण्मः
- we make, we preparewe make, we perform (ritual performance of offering)Verbलट् 1पुरुष बहुवचन, परस्मैपदRole KartāRoot √कृ (कृञ् करणे)
- हविः
- oblationoblation, offering (food-offering; consecrated substance)Nounद्वितीया/प्रथमा एकवचन (नपुंसकलिङ्ग; रूपसाम्य)Role KarmaRoot हविस्- (नपुंसक)
- गृहे
- in the houseNounसप्तमी एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot गृह- (नपुंसक)
Sandhi Notes
- (1) ‘हविःगृहे’ → ‘हविः गृहे’ (विसर्ग-सन्धि; विसर्गः पूर्वपदे स्थितः, पदविभागे पृथक्)
- (2) ‘जायान्यजानम्’ → ‘जायानि अजानम्’ (इ-स्वरान्त + अ-आदिः; संहितायां य-आगम/यकार-प्रत्यय-लक्षणं: -i + a- → -ya-)
- (3) ‘जायान्यजायसे’ → ‘जायानि जायसे’ (इ + ज-; संहितायां ‘जायानि’ अन्त्य-इकारस्य यकार-प्रवृत्तिः)
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition (general)
- Devata
- Jāyānya (as addressed adversary) / protective power of havis
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh (probable; requires full hymn metrical audit)
- Rasa
- Vira and Raudra
Sāyaṇa emphasizes the coercive force of ‘we know thy origin’: knowledge of a being’s source grants control. The domestic ‘gṛha’ with properly made havis is ritually protected; the verse is a challenge that renders the affliction powerless within the consecrated household space.
Unknown (Atharvanic healing corpus; hymn-level attribution uncertain)
Apotropaic bhaiṣajya: origin-knowledge (vidyā) + domestic-fire protection; house as defensive field against grahas/afflictions.
Atharvanic strategy: ‘We know you’ is a binding spell; the protected house with havis is the locus of immunity—ritual and domestic order as medicine.
Jāyānya (addressed adversary) countered by Havis/Household rite (Agni implied)
Affliction as a hostile agent is constrained by knowledge and by the sacrificial order maintained in the home; Agni/havis create a boundary of ṛta.
Through the protective efficacy of offering and the ‘binding’ force of diagnostic knowledge.
Strong household apotropaic: the havis-house is declared unstrikeable terrain.
4 pādas of ~8 syllables; first two pādas assert knowledge, last two challenge the affliction’s ability to harm.
Dialogic taunt (‘How then…?’) common in AV exorcistic anuṣṭubh; performative rhetoric over strict meter.
Confrontational and binding; the repeated jāyānya sharpens the address.
Empowerment: transforms patient/householder from passive victim to protected knower and ritual agent.
Kindle/maintain the household fire (gārhapatya or domestic equivalent).
Prepare havis (simple oblation: ghee/grain) as protective offering.
Recite the mantra while presenting the offering, explicitly addressing the affliction by name.
Circumambulate the patient/household hearth with the consecrated offering or with the offering-spoon, marking the boundary of the protected space.
Conclude by placing protective residue (aśana/avśeṣa) at thresholds or administering a small portion to the patient if prescribed.
Kauśika Sūtra: domestic apotropaic use with havis in gṛha for graha/affliction expulsion (edition-dependent numbering).
Atharvan priest as domestic protector: performs offering, speaks the ‘origin-knowing’ formula, and ritually seals the house against the named affliction.
Recite at the household fire while making a small offering (havis) for protection; can be used when illness threatens the home or during recovery to prevent relapse.
Evening fire-time or at onset; also during liminal times when ‘grahas’ are feared.
Householder as ritual protector; Atharvan priest may direct a fuller bhaiṣajya rite.
A short protective prayer before lighting a lamp/incense (as a domestic ‘Agni’ symbol) alongside practical care.
havis (oblation); domestic fire/household ritual setting (implied)
Implicit domestic Agni through havis and ‘house of oblation’
Havis is ‘edible order’: feeding Agni sustains a boundary of protection; the house becomes a ritual body with immunity maintained by offering.
Jāyānya affliction (intrusive seizer).
Exorcistic epistemology (‘we know your origin’) + domestic oblation as protective barrier; ritual immunization of the house/patient.
Āgantuka/ bhūta-graha style framing; protective agni and sattvic household order as supportive to recovery.
Psychoeducation and environmental safety planning; ‘containment’ and supportive routines reducing symptom triggers.
Jāyānya as adversary; protection for the householder/patient
To prevent the affliction from striking a protected householder by asserting knowledge of its origin and establishing the home as ritually guarded through havis.
Binding by knowledge (vidma) + consecration of space via oblation (havis) in the home; verbal challenge that negates the affliction’s agency.
Sudden ‘seizing’ episodes, household vulnerability, recurrence
- विद्म (vidma)
- diagnostic insight; demystification that disempowers fear
- जान (jāna)
- root-cause awareness; tracing the source of disturbance
- हनोः (hanoḥ)
- attack mechanism of illness; sudden worsening
- हविर्गृहे (havirgṛhe)
- ritually defended home/body; sacralized space hostile to intruders
- हविस् (havis)
- offering that ‘feeds’ protective order; ritual firewall
- गृह (gṛha)
- boundaries, immunity, containment
Transform fear into knowledge: ‘I know your origin’—identify triggers and patterns; establish the body as a protected ‘house’ with inner fire steady.
Manipura (inner fire/agency)
Exhale-focused chanting; slightly longer exhale to signal ‘expulsion’
A fire at the navel-heart axis; offerings of breath feed it; intrusive force cannot cross the threshold of the luminous home.
Defiant steadiness, protected containment
After chanting, perform one stabilizing routine in the ‘house’: clean a corner, light a lamp, take medicine/food on time—ritual order as ongoing protection.
Steady anuṣṭubh with emphatic stress on vidma, jāyānya, and havirgṛhe; deliver the challenge ‘kathaṃ ha…’ with firm downward resolve.
Pause slightly after vidma vai te; keep repeated jāyānya clear and consistent.
Commanding, protective
Traditionally suited to household-fire context; if no fire is present, visualize Agni and keep the ‘house’ boundary in mind.
21 times
Illness recurring in a household, fear of sudden attacks, or a need to ‘secure the home’ during recovery.
At onset, during evening protection, or before sleep; especially when reinforcing routines and boundaries.
Increased sense of safety and agency; ritual containment; supportive mindset for recovery and prevention.
Use alongside medical treatment and hygiene; avoid blaming the patient—treat ‘jāyānya’ as the illness-pattern, not a person.
Here the operative substance is havis rather than a named herb: the offering materializes protection, while the mantra’s ‘we know thy origin’ functions as a verbal binding. Substance and speech cooperate to create a defended domestic zone.
The household becomes a ritual polity: the sacrificer’s house is safeguarded by correct offering, but the specialized Atharvan speaker claims superior power through esoteric knowledge (the affliction’s ‘birth’).
Direct second-person address to a disease-agent and the juridical tone of interrogation (‘how wilt thou smite?’) are strongly Atharvanic. The house-centered framing (gṛhe) foregrounds gr̥hya pragmatics more than RV’s public soma-sacrifice orientation.
Gopatha repeatedly valorizes Atharvanic ‘knowing’ (vid-) as power: to know a being’s name/origin is to constrain it. The verse exemplifies that theory by converting knowledge into a protective prohibition within the ritual household.
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