Atharva Veda 3.21.10: Kanda 3, Anuvaka 3, Sukta 21, Mantra 10
Sukta 21
ये पर्व॑ताः॒ सोम॑पृष्ठा॒ आप॑ उत्तान॒शीव॑रीः । वातः॑ प॒र्जन्य॒ आद॒ग्निस्ते क्र॒व्याद॑मशीशमन्
yé párvatāḥ sómapṛṣṭhā ā́pa uttānaśī́varīḥ | vā́taḥ párjanya ā́d agníṣ té kravyā́dam aśīśaman ||
The Soma-backed mountains, the waters wide outspread, the Wind, Parjanya, and Agni—by these hath that flesh-eater been made quiet.
जे सोम-पृष्ठ पर्वत आहेत, जी पाणी विस्तीर्ण पसरलेली आहेत, जो वायू, पर्जन्य आणि अग्नी आहेत—यांच्याच द्वारे तो क्रव्याद् (मांसभक्षक) शांत करण्यात आला आहे.
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (anukramaṇī-dependent)
Devata: Cosmic regulators (Āpaḥ, Vāta, Parjanya) with Agni; target: kravyād
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh
Primary: shanta
Secondary: adbhuta
Sayana interprets the verse as calling on cooling and regulating cosmic agencies—waters, rain, wind, and even Agni in a controlled form—to pacify the kravyād. The mountains and Soma imagery reinforce a ritual geography: Soma-associated, life-sustaining powers counteract the predatory fire.
To pacify the flesh-eating fire through the agency of waters, rain, wind, and stabilizing cosmic supports (mountains), i.e., by invoking cooling and ordering forces.
Heat/agitation states (ritual ‘burning’), post-exposure distress, impurity anxiety; metaphorical ‘consumption.’
Elemental counterbalancing: invoke waters/rain/wind/grounding to pacify fire; psychosomatic cooling via imagery.
Pitta pacification (āpaḥ/parjanya), Vāta regulation (vāta invoked in a harmonizing, not aggravating, way).
Cooling imagery + breath regulation for anxiety; environmental grounding (nature-based calming).
shantika
kravyād Agni
To pacify kravyād by mobilizing elemental forces that naturally restrain fire.
Cosmic substitution: set cool/stable elements against devouring heat; enumerative binding (‘by these…’).
Overheating, ominous fire, perceived contagion from death-contact.
Cosmic coolers and stabilizers—Soma-backed mountains, wide-spread waters, Wind, Parjanya (rain), and Agni—have made the flesh-eater quiet.
Stability (mountains), nourishment/soothing (Soma), emotional cleansing (waters), breath-regulation (wind), restorative release (rain), and disciplined transformation (Agni) together pacify the devouring impulse.
When destructive heat rises, antidotes are the great regulators: steadiness, fluidity, breath, renewal, and rightly-ordered fire.
- सोमपृष्ठ (somapṛṣṭha)
- cool, nourishing support; the ‘nectar’ that steadies harshness
- आपः (āpaḥ)
- purification, emotional cooling, life-restoration
- वात (vāta)
- prāṇa regulation; dispersal of stagnation and fumes
- पर्जन्य (parjanya)
- grace that quenches excess heat; renewal after crisis
- पर्वत (parvata)
- cosmic grounding; immovable support during liminality
Elemental balancing: ground (mountain), flow (water), breath (wind), release (rain), steady heat (lamp-flame).
Maṇipūra cooled; Svādhiṣṭhāna supported by water imagery.
Nadi-śodhana or simple 1:2 inhale:exhale; imagine vāta carrying out smoke on exhale.
Rain falling on a wild flame until it becomes a steady lamp beside a river at a mountain’s foot.
Cooling clarity; spaciousness.
Chant 3 times, then do 12 slow breaths; end by touching the ground (bhū-sparśa) for stability.
Keep a flowing cadence; slightly lengthen āpaḥ and vātaḥ for ‘cooling’ resonance.
Segment compounds: soma-pṛṣṭhāḥ; uttāna-śīvarīḥ; avoid swallowing consonant clusters.
parvataḥ: clear ‘rv’, uttānaśīvarīḥ: articulate śī-va-rīḥ, long ī, Parjanya: jñ cluster—par-jan-ya (common recitation simplification)
Cool, open-throated, airy (not forceful).
Works well with actual water-sprinkling (prokṣaṇa) and ventilation—ritual action mirrors mantra imagery.
3
When the home feels ‘overheated’—after conflict, smoke, illness anxiety, or death-contact stress.
Morning after a heavy night; during hot weather agitation; after cleansing the space with water.
Cooling calm, clearer breathing, sense of restored order.
If using actual fire, keep safety first; mantra complements, not replaces, practical measures.
पदच्छेदः: ये | पर्वताः | सोमपृष्ठाः | आपः | उत्तानशीवरीः | वातः | पर्जन्यः | आद् | अग्निः | ते | क्रव्यादम् | अशीशमन् । Sandhi: (1) पर्जन्यः + आद् → पर्जन्य आद् (visarga before vowel often written without explicit change in Saṃhitā orthography here). (2) आद् + अग्निः → आदग्निः (d + a → da; external sandhi). (3) ते + क्रव्यादम् → ते क्रव्यादम् (no change).
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