Atharva Veda 4.39.10: Kanda 4, Anuvaka 4, Sukta 39, Mantra 10
Sukta 39
हृ॒दा पू॒तं मन॑सा जातवेदो॒ विश्वा॑नि देव व॒युना॑नि वि॒द्वान्। स॒प्तास्या॑नि॒ तव॑ जातवेद॒स्तेभ्यो॑ जुहोमि॒ स जु॑षस्व ह॒व्यम्
hṛdā́ pūtáṁ mánasā jātavēdo víśvāni deva vayū́nāni vidvā́n | saptā́syāni táva jātavēdas tébhyo juhomi sá juṣasva havíyam
Purified with heart, with mind, O Jātavedas—O god, knowing all wise ordinances: thine are seven mouths, O Jātavedas; to them I offer: do thou accept the oblation graciously.
हे जातवेदस् (अग्नी)! हृदयाने शुद्ध होऊन, मनाने (एकाग्र होऊन), हे देव, तू सर्व विधाने/उपाय जाणणारा आहेस. हे जातवेदस्, तुझे सात मुख आहेत; त्यांनाच मी आहुती अर्पितो—तू हे हव्य प्रसन्न होऊन स्वीकार.
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (specific attribution not provided in excerpt)
Devata: Agni Jātavedas
Chandas: Triṣṭubh-like (requires metrical confirmation; AV often preserves mixed meters)
Primary: shanta
Secondary: adbhuta
Sāyaṇa emphasizes internal purity (hṛd/manas) as a corrective where external rite may be threatened by doṣa. ‘Seven mouths’ are Agni’s seven tongues/flames (sapta jihvāḥ), ensuring complete reception of havis; offering ‘to them’ signifies full, properly distributed consumption, hence guaranteed efficacy.
To ensure the offering is mentally and ritually purified, fully received by Agni’s seven consuming powers, thereby preventing failure of the rite and securing divine acceptance.
Heart (hṛd), mind (manas)
Purification of intention (heart/mind) + correct offering to Agni’s seven consuming powers; prevents ritual failure and restores harmony.
Indirect: emphasizes sattva-śuddhi (mental clarity) as prerequisite for wellbeing; aligns with the idea that agni (digestive/metabolic fire) must be balanced and properly ‘fed’.
Mindfulness before action; stress reduction improving adherence and outcomes; ritual as structured attention training.
shantika
Ensure oblation is accepted; validate rite; purify inner state to avert misfortune from ritual fault.
Inner purification formula + offering to multiple ‘mouths’ (totalizing acceptance) + explicit request of consent (juṣasva).
Ritual failure, inner distraction, impurity of intention.
Success of rites; household stability through correctly received offerings.
With heart and mind purified, the speaker addresses Agni Jātavedas, knower of all ordinances. Agni has seven mouths; to them the offering is made—may he accept the oblation.
Purity is internal (hṛdā, manasā) before it is external. The ‘seven mouths’ symbolize multiple channels of transformation: the psyche’s scattered energies are gathered and offered into a single sacred digestion.
Any offering—work, love, prayer—lands well when intention is purified. True receptivity arises when giver and medium are aligned.
- हृदा पूतम् (hṛdā pūtam)
- ethical/emotional clarity; sincerity
- मनसा (manasā)
- cognitive clarity; disciplined attention
- जातवेदस् (jātavedas)
- omniscient inner fire that knows the right way
- वयुनानि (vayunāni)
- right method; intelligent order in action
- सप्तास्यानि (saptāsyāni)
- seven consuming/transmuting powers; total acceptance across all channels
- जुषस्व (juṣasva)
- divine consent; the rite ‘lands’
Offer the mind itself into inner fire; cultivate ‘clean intention’.
Anahata (heart purity) and Manipura (inner agni).
4-4-6 breathing; on exhale mentally ‘offer’ tension into the inner flame; pause briefly after ‘juṣasva’.
Seven tongues of light in the navel region gently consume anxiety, resentment, and distraction; a calm warmth remains.
Sattvic clarity; receptive steadiness.
Begin any sādhanā with this verse once; then sit silently for a minute, feeling inner warmth without agitation.
Slightly elongated triṣṭubh phrasing; keep long vowels sustained (pūtam, jātavedo, vayunāni).
Maintain caesura after vocatives (jātavedo / deva); broaden tone on saptāsyāni.
hṛdā: retroflex ḍ; clear long ā, jātavedas: keep jaa-ta-ve-das, juṣasva: retroflex ṣ; do not turn into s
Warm, steady, devotional; let the final juṣasva havyam trail into silence.
Best paired with an actual small offering (lamp/ghee) or a symbolic offering (breath/attention) to enact ‘acceptance’ somatically.
7
Before prayer/ritual, before meals, before important work; when feeling mentally ‘unclean’ (agitated, guilty, scattered).
At dawn/evening; before offering a lamp; before meditation; after conflict to reset intention.
Calm clarity, improved focus, sense of being aligned and ‘received’; traditional securing of rite-success.
Fire safety if using a lamp/fire; avoid rigid guilt—use the mantra for clarity, not self-blame.
पदच्छेद (Vedic sandhi resolved): हृदा | पूतम् | मनसा | जातवेदः | विश्वानि | देव | वयुनानि | विद्वान् | सप्त | आस्यानि | तव | जातवेदः | तेभ्यः | जुहोमि | सः | जुषस्व | हव्यम् । प्रमुख-सन्धि: (1) जातवेदो विश्वानि → जातवेदः विश्वानि (ओ/अः-सन्धि; विसर्ग-रूपेण पदान्ते) (2) देव वयुनानि (कोऽपि विशेष-सन्धि न; सम्बोधन) (3) सप्तास्यानि → सप्त आस्यानि (अ + आ = आ) (4) जातवेदस्तेभ्यः → जातवेदः तेभ्यः (विसर्ग-सन्धि; स्त्-आदेशः) (5) जुहोमि स → जुहोमि सः (पदान्त-रूप) (6) जु॑षस्व ह॒व्यम् (सन्धि न)
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