Atharva Veda 15.13.7: Kanda 15, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 13, Mantra 7
Sukta 13
तद् यस्यै॒वं वि॒द्वान् व्रात्य॑श्चतु॒र्थीं रात्रि॒मति॑थिर्गृ॒हे वस॑ति
tád yásyaiváṁ vidvā́n vrā́tyaś caturthī́ṁ rā́trim átithir gṛhé vásati
That (same celestial gain) is his, for whom, in this wise, a knowing Vratya, a guest, abides in the house the fourth night.
Itu (ganjaran samawi yang sama) menjadi miliknya: bagi orang yang, demikianlah, seorang Vratya yang mengetahui—sebagai tetamu—bermalam di rumah pada malam yang keempat.
The meaning
What it says
The same heavenly gain belongs to the one in whose house a knowing Vratya, as a guest, stays for the fourth night.
The inner meaning
Transformation requires time and containment: the ‘fourth night’ marks a threshold where the unfamiliar/powerful presence is fully integrated rather than merely received. The psyche learns to host what is potent and disruptive without fear.
The truth in it
Hospitality is a spiritual technology: sustained care for the other reshapes destiny. Deep benefits come not from a momentary gesture but from continued, disciplined relationship.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Paustika / Social-ritual merit
Its aim
To secure the next higher/continued set of meritorious realms by hosting the knowing Vratya for the fourth night
Word by Word
Pada patha
तत् । यस्य । एवम् । विद्वान् । व्रात्यः । चतुर्थीम् । रात्रिम् । अतिथिः । गृहे । वसति ।
- तत्
- that (it)that (reward previously stated)Pronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- यस्य
- of whom / whoseof whom; for which manPronounपुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole Sambandha (Genitive relation)Root यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- एवम्
- thus, in this mannerthus, in the prescribed mannerIndeclinableअव्ययRoot एवम्
- विद्वान्
- knowing, learnedknowing; endowed with sacred knowledgeAdjective (participial)पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (वर्तमानकृदन्तः—क्तवत्/वत्-प्रत्ययान्तः ‘knowing’)Role KartāRoot विद्वस् (√विद् ‘to know’)
- व्रात्यः
- the Vrātya (ascetic/outsider figure)Vratya (powerful liminal guest)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot व्रात्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- चतुर्थीम्
- the fourthAdjective (ordinal)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot चतुर्थी (प्रातिपदिक)
- रात्रिम्
- nightNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot रात्रि (प्रातिपदिक)
- अतिथिः
- a guestguest, sacrosanct visitorNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot अतिथि (प्रातिपदिक)
- गृहे
- in the houseNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot गृह (प्रातिपदिक)
- वसति
- dwells, staysdwells/stays (is lodged)Verbलट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot √वस् (निवासे)
Sandhi Notes
- (1) तद् + यस्य → तत् यस्य (final द् becomes त् before य).
- (2) यस्य + एवम् → यस्यैवम् (written as यस्यै॒वं).
- (3) अतिथिः + गृहे → अतिथिर्गृहे (visarga → र् before voiced consonant ग). No further obligatory sandhi
- चतुर्थीम् रात्रिम् is apposition (‘the fourth night’)
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition (Vratya cycle)
- Devata
- Vratya-as-atithi / merit-fruit (loka)
- Chandas
- Ritual-prose style
- Rasa
- Shanta and Adbhuta
Sāyaṇa reads the fourth-night lodging as a further intensification of the merit-act, yielding the next graded reward. The repeated ‘tad yasya’ frames a juridical-like condition: the fruit belongs to the host who fulfills the specified hospitality term.
Vratya-cycle (Atharvanic traditional attribution; no single fixed ṛṣi-name)
Domestic ritual merit via hospitality; managing liminal sacred power (Vratya) through time-bound observance.
Encodes the Atharvan idea that the householder can ‘purchase’ heaven not only by sacrifice but by ethically and ritually containing a powerful guest.
Vratya-as-Atithi (guest-form of sacred power)
Mediator between settled society and the wild sacred; a mobile axis that transfers potency/merit when honored correctly.
Protects the household by converting liminal danger into blessing; grants auspicious ‘loka’ outcomes.
Atharvanic ritual-prose (gadyātmaka) with long syntactic span
Single flowing sentence; natural pauses after vidvān | vrātyaḥ | caturthīm rātrim | atithiḥ | gṛhe vasati
Narrative-prose used as ritual prescription/condition statement (yasy… tasya…).
Conditional-legal rhythm: ‘That is his, for whom…’
Creates a sense of contractual certainty—merit as a result of a clearly stated domestic condition.
Extend hospitality through the fourth night.
Provide food and protection; avoid any breach of guest-law.
Recite the mantra at the formal confirmation of the fourth-night stay.
Mark completion by respectful send-off or transition to subsequent prescribed acts.
Kauśika Sūtra: Vratya-atithi graded lodging observance (general alignment; numbering varies)
Atharvan priest ensures the correct count and the correct performative utterance, treating the mantra as the legal ‘seal’ of the merit transfer.
When a revered outsider/renunciant/teacher is hosted, recite to frame the stay as a merit-rite; emphasize continuity through the fourth night.
At the end of each evening’s hospitality, especially marking the fourth night as completion.
Householder as ritual agent; a purohita may instruct on observance boundaries and gifts.
Kauśika Sūtra associates AVŚ 15 with Vratya-related rites and hospitality frames (exact numbering varies).
Used to sacralize multi-day retreats/hosting teachers, reinforcing ethical care and sustained support.
Though unnamed, the ‘substances’ are the domestic offerings that convert social action into metaphysical fruit; the house becomes a ritual vessel.
Social support and prosocial behavior improving wellbeing; ‘hosting’ as stress-buffering and meaning-making.
Householder/host
To obtain the same celestial merit-fruit by correctly hosting the knowing Vratya through the fourth night.
Time-bound observance (four nights) + bandhu logic: guest-presence equals loka-gain.
Inauspiciousness from mishandled hospitality; loss of merit due to insufficient observance duration.
Spiritual prosperity; household auspiciousness; fame for generosity.
- विद्वान् (vidvān)
- one who carries effective knowledge/power; a catalytic presence
- व्रात्यः (vrātyaḥ)
- the liminal sacred—wild dharma, untamed potency that can bless when rightly received
- अतिथिः (atithiḥ)
- the divine-in-disguise; the test of household virtue
- चतुर्थीम् रात्रिम् (caturthīm rātrim)
- completion of a cycle; stabilization/ratification of the guest’s power into merit
- गृहे वसति (gṛhe vasati)
- integration of sacred power into domestic space
Practicing ‘inner hospitality’—welcoming difficult energies/thoughts without expelling them prematurely, until they transform.
anahata (hospitality/relational virtue)
Even breathing with a gentle lengthening of exhale to cultivate receptivity; mentally mark ‘four cycles’ of breath as ‘four nights’.
Visualize the heart as a well-lit house; a luminous guest enters and stays safely, bringing blessings with time.
Receptive steadiness; non-reactive containment.
Pair with a concrete act: host someone, serve a meal, or volunteer; keep the commitment over multiple days to embody ‘caturthīm rātrim’.
Plain Atharvanic recitation; emphasize the conditional frame ‘tad yasya…’ and key nouns (vidvān, vrātyaḥ, atithiḥ).
Stress ‘caturthīm rātrim’ as the ritual hinge; land firmly on ‘gṛhe vasati’.
Warm, hospitable tone; not aggressive—this is a paustika assurance.
Recite as part of a sequence with 15.13.6 and 15.13.8 to complete the ‘merit-world’ ladder.
Hosting a teacher/renunciant/elder; running a multi-day retreat; sustaining care for a guest or family member over several days.
Evenings during the guest’s stay; especially on the fourth night or on completion of the hosting period.
Cultivates sustained generosity, household harmony, and a sense of spiritual reward tied to care over time.
Avoid instrumentalizing hospitality; the Atharvanic efficacy presumes genuine honor and proper boundaries/consent for the guest.
Again none; the rite is social rather than pharmacological. The counted nights function like a dosage schedule: duration substitutes for substance as the variable controlling efficacy.
The host’s household becomes a ritual site where an outsider’s presence generates merit. This implies both the domestication of marginal charisma and the dependence of settled society on controlled relations with non-householder figures.
The repetitive conditional formula and ordinal-night specification are more typical of later ritual instruction than RV hymnody; the language is functional, almost administrative.
It would support the idea that ‘knowledge + correct observance’ yields predictable cosmic results; the Vratya’s potency is activated by proper reception, and the mantra articulates the causal link.
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