Sukta 91
Rishi: Atharvanic healer tradition
Devata: Bhaiṣajya (medicine) / Yakṣman-removal power (functional devatā)
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (approx.)
Himne penyembuhan ringkas ini menyasar yakṣman—penyakit susut/layu (rapas)—dengan tindakan ritual “memalingkan kembali” lalu mengusirnya keluar dari tubuh pesakit. Ia menggabungkan penawar yang nyata—barli yang diramu—dengan rumus pengusiran berarah yang meniru gerak kosmik ke bawah, dan memeteraikan kesembuhan dengan menyeru Air sebagai ubat sejagat serta penyurai penyakit.
Kind of charm
Mantras
Mantra 1
यक्ष्मनाशनम्। इ॒मं यव॑मष्टायो॒गैः ष॑ड्यो॒गेभि॑रचर्कृषुः । तेना॑ ते त॒न्वो॒३रपो॑ ऽपा॒चीन॒मप॑ व्यये
(Pemusnah yakṣma) Barli (yava) ini telah mereka adun dengan campuran lapan-lapis, dengan campuran enam-lapis; dengannya, dari tubuhmu aku menghalau rāpah—mudharat yang menghakis—dipalingkan ke belakang dan dihantar jauh.
Mantra 2
न्य॑१ग्वातो॑ वाति॒ न्यऽक् तपति॑ सूर्यः॑ । नी॒चीन॑म॒घ्न्या दु॑हे॒ न्यऽग् भवतु ते॒ रपः॑
Ke bawah Angin bertiup; ke bawah Matahari membakar. Ke bawah lembu yang tidak boleh disakiti (aghnya) diperah; ke bawah juga, untukmu, biarlah rāpah—mudharat yang menghakis—ditolak pergi.
Mantra 3
आप॒ इद् वा उ॑ भेष॒जीरापो॑ अमीव॒चात॑नीः । आपो॑ विश्व॑स्य भेष॒जीस्तास्ते॑ कृण्वन्तु भेष॒जम्
Air, sesungguhnya, adalah ubat; air ialah penghalau penyakit. Air ialah ubat bagi segala sesuatu: semoga air itu menjadikan bagimu suatu penyembuhan.
Inside Sukta 91
How it unfolds
- How it opens
Begins with a practical therapeutic act: barley compounded in multiple ‘yogas’ is empowered as yakṣman-destroying medicine.
- What it asks
That the wasting harm (rapas/yakṣman) be driven from the patient—turned backward, sent away, and forced downward out of the body.
- Where its power lies
Cosmic exemplars (Wind blowing downward, Sun burning downward, Cow milked downward) guarantee the directional compulsion of the disease; the Waters are proclaimed medicines and disease-dispersers.
- How it closes
Concludes by entrusting the cure to Āpaḥ: ‘May those Waters make a remedy for thee,’ sealing treatment with purification and universal healing power.
Famous verses
yakṣmanāśanam
nyag bhavatu te rapaḥ
āpo viśvasya bheṣajīḥ
Kind of hymn
Bhaisajya (Healing) — Yakṣmanāśana (consumption/wasting removal)
What it is for
Rapid turning-back, downward driving, and expulsion of yakṣman/rapas from the patient, restoring strength and bodily integrity.
Who it is for
Atharvanic healer/practitioner (bhaiṣajika), household ritualist, or caregiver treating wasting/lingering illness.
Also used as
- Yakṣmanāśana (consumption/wasting removal)
- Rogāpahāra (disease-expulsion)
- Śāntika (pacificatory purification, via Āpaḥ)
The deity
A functional devatā embodying therapeutic potency that drives out yakṣman/rapas (wasting harm), reinforced by the Waters as the all-healing, disease-dispelling divine medium.
Powers of the deity
- Expels yakṣman/rapas (wasting, consumptive affliction)
- Reverses and sends away harm (apācīna/‘turned back’)
- Aligns the body with cosmic order to force disease downward and out
- Purifies and heals through consecrated water (Āpaḥ as bheṣajī)
Why the deity is called
To remove a wasting disease from the patient by empowering a barley compound, compelling the affliction to move downward/outward, and completing the cure with water as universal remedy.
The seer
- Atharvanic healer (anonymous/collective attribution)Atharvan. Bhaiṣajya charms for disease-removal, especially yakṣman/consumption, using food-medicines, directional expulsions, and water-purifications.
Other hymns of this seer
- AV 6.90 (yakṣman-related healing context, adjacent cycle)
- AV 6.92 (healing/aversion context, adjacent cycle)
Preparing for the rite
- Prepare clean space and vessel; procure barley (yava) and clean water.
- Compound barley with measured admixtures described as ‘eightfold’ and ‘sixfold’ yogas (i.e., multiple ingredients/portions), keeping the preparation ritually pure.
- Seat the patient facing an auspicious direction; keep water ready for sipping/sprinkling.
The rite
- Recite 6.91.1 over the compounded barley to ‘turn back’ and drive away rapas from the body; administer as food/drink or touch/apply as appropriate to local practice.
- Recite 6.91.2 as a directional expulsion: gesture downward (hand motion) to send the affliction down and away, synchronizing with the verse’s imagery.
- Recite 6.91.3 over water; give the patient to sip and/or sprinkle on head/chest as a purification and medicinal seal.
What it needs
- Yava (barley)
- Admixture ingredients for ‘aṣṭā-yoga’ and ‘ṣaḍ-yoga’ (measured compound; specifics vary by tradition)
- Clean water (Āpaḥ)
- Optional: milking imagery may be enacted symbolically with dairy or a milking gesture (not required)
When
Preferably morning or at sunrise (Sūrya imagery), or at the onset of treatment; may be repeated daily during convalescence.
The main substance
Yava (barley) compounded as medicine; sealed with Āpaḥ (healing water)
Herbs
- Yava (barley)
How it is prepared
Compound barley in measured admixtures described as eightfold and sixfold ‘yogas’; recite 6.91.1 over it for empowerment, then administer. Recite 6.91.3 over clean water and have the patient sip/sprinkle as the final remedy-seal.
Frequently Asked Questions
In Atharvavedic healing language, yakṣman is a wasting, lingering affliction (often linked with consumption-like decline). Here it is also called rapas, a harmful wasting influence to be driven away.
Barley is treated as a tangible carrier of bhaiṣajya power: it is compounded in measured mixtures (‘yogas’) and empowered by mantra so it can ‘turn back’ and expel the wasting harm from the patient’s body.
The hymn declares the Waters to be medicines and disease-dispersers for all. Consecrated water is used to purify, soothe, and seal the treatment so the remedy becomes complete and enduring.
Ask anything about Sukta 91 of the Atharva Veda
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Atharva Veda in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
