Atharva Veda 18.2.26: Kanda 18, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 2, Mantra 26

Sukta 2

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

यत् ते॒ अङ्ग॒मति॑हितं परा॒चैर॑पा॒नः प्रा॒णो य उ॑ वा ते॒ परे॑तः । तत् ते सं॒गत्य॑ पि॒तरः॒ सनी॑डा घा॒साद् घा॒सं पुन॒रा वे॑शयन्तु

IAST Transliteration

yát te áṅgám atihitáṃ parācáir apānáḥ prāṇó yá u vā te parétaḥ | tát te saṅgátya pitáraḥ sanīḍā́ ghāsā́d ghā́sāṃ púnar ā́ veśayantu

English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)

What limb of thine is set astray afar—what apāna, what prāṇa of thee, O departed—let the Fathers, of one abode, gathering it together for thee, cause it to enter again, portion by portion, from fodder unto fodder.

Translation

Mana-mana anggota tubuhmu yang tersasar jauh—mana-mana apāna, mana-mana prāṇa-mu, wahai yang telah pergi—biarlah para Pitṛ, yang seketempatan, menghimpunkannya untukmu, lalu memasukkannya kembali, bahagian demi bahagian, dari satu ‘makanan ternak’ ke ‘makanan ternak’ yang lain.

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Word by Word

• यत्: whatever / that which
• यत्: Karma (यद्-तद् सम्बन्धेन ‘तत्’ इत्यस्य विषयः)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) / यद्-शब्द

• ते: of you / your
• ते: Sambandha (genitive relation)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: त्वद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• अङ्गम्: limb; body-part
• अङ्गम्: Karma (विषयः—‘अङ्गम्’ यत्… )
• Type: Noun
• Root: अङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)

• अतिहितम्: over-placed; displaced; put beyond its place
• अतिहितम्: Karma (अङ्गस्य अवस्था)
• Type: Adjective (past passive participle)
• Root: अति-√धा (धातु) → ‘हित’ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक) with उपसर्ग ‘अति’

• पराचैः: away; from afar; in a backward direction
• पराचैः: Karaṇa (रीत्या/प्रकारेण—‘दूरतः/पराङ्मुखैः’)
• Type: Adjective (used adverbially)
• Root: पराच् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘backward/away’)

• अपानः: apāna (downward vital breath)
• अपानः: Kartā (अतिहितं… [करोति/भवति] इति भावे)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अपान (प्रातिपदिक)

• प्राणः: prāṇa (vital breath)
• प्राणः: Kartā (अपानेन सह समुच्चितः)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राण (प्रातिपदिक)

• यः: who; which
• यः: Kartā (सापेक्ष-सम्बन्धः)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• उ: indeed; also (emphatic particle)
• उ: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उ (निपात)

• वा: or
• वा: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (निपात)

• ते: of you / your
• ते: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: त्वद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• परेतः: gone away; departed (esp. deceased)
• परेतः: Kartā (यः… परेतः = ‘who has gone forth/away’)
• Type: Adjective (past participial)
• Root: परा-√इ (धातु) → ‘परेत’ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; गत/अतीत) अथवा ‘परेत’ (विशेषण)

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma (पुनः-उद्धृतं ‘यत्’ इत्यस्य)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• ते: of you / your
• ते: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: त्वद्

• संगत्य: having come together; assembling
• संगत्य: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Gerund (absolutive)
• Root: सम्-√गम् (धातु) → ‘संगत्य’ (ल्यप्-अव्ययकृदन्त)

• पितरः: the Fathers; ancestral spirits
• पितरः: Kartā (वेśयन्तु इत्यस्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)

• सनीडाः: sharing one seat; united in one abode
• सनीडाः: Kartā (पितॄणां विशेषणम्)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स-नीड (प्रातिपदिक; ‘having one nest/seat’)

• घासात्: from fodder; from food
• घासात्: Apādāna (यतः—‘from fodder/food’)
• Type: Noun
• Root: घास (प्रातिपदिक)

• घासम्: fodder; food
• घासम्: Karma (यत् वेśयन्तु/प्रवेशयन्तु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: घास (प्रातिपदिक)

• पुनः: again; back
• पुनः: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (पुनरावृत्तिः)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः (अव्यय)

• आ: towards; into
• आ: —
• Type: Indeclinable (preverb)
• Root: आ (उपसर्ग/निपात)

• वेशयन्तु: may they cause (it) to enter; may they restore/bring back in
• वेशयन्तु: Kriyā (मुख्यक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √विश् (धातु) — causative √विश् → वेśय (णिच्)

Attribution

Rishi: Atharvanic funerary tradition (AV 18)

Devata: Pitṛs (sanīḍāḥ), with implicit focus on prāṇa/apāna as vital powers

Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (with Atharvanic syntactic density)

Mantra Rasa

Primary: shanta

Secondary: karuna