Atharva Veda 13.4.7: Kanda 13, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 4, Mantra 7
Sukta 4
प॒श्चात् प्राञ्च॒ आ त॑न्वन्ति॒ यदु॒देति॒ वि भा॑सति । र॒श्मिभि॒र्नभ॒ आभृ॑तं महे॒न्द्र ए॒त्यावृ॑तः
paścā́t prā́ñca ā́ tanvanti yád udéti ví bhā́sati | raśmíbhir nábha ā́bhṛtaṃ mahéndra éty ā́vṛtaḥ ||
From the rear to the fore they stretch abroad, when he arises and shines out widely. With rays the firmament is borne and filled: great Indra comes, encompassed round about.
Od tyłu ku przodowi rozciągają się, gdy on powstaje i szeroko świeci. Promieniami firmament jest niesiony i wypełniony: wielki Indra przychodzi, ogarnięty dokoła.
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (anukramaṇī-dependent)
Devata: Mahendra/Indra as solarized protector
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh
Primary: shanta
Secondary: adbhuta
Sāyaṇa reads the motion ‘paścāt … prāñcaḥ’ as the transition from darkness/west to light/east at sunrise; the ‘stretching’ is primarily of rays that pervade space. The mantra is thus timed to the udgama (rising), when the apotropaic force is maximal.
To effect a sunrise-driven reversal: pushing back the ‘behind’ (darkness, danger) and establishing forward/eastward auspicious order through the spreading rays.
Night-fear, depletion, ‘darkness’-type afflictions; protective use against undefined harms arising in sleep/night.
Purificatory-pervasive light imagery: saturate the ‘field’ so no void remains for affliction; reorient mind-body toward morning order.
Morning (prātaḥ) as doṣa-reset; supports sattva, counters tamas; useful alongside dinacaryā and morning agni-kindling.
Sleep inertia, anxiety on waking, seasonal low mood—ritualized sunrise exposure and cognitive reorientation.
shantika
Sunrise-driven reversal of inauspiciousness: push ‘behind’ forces away; establish forward/eastward auspicious order; seal a radiant perimeter.
Cosmic imitation (sunrise) + verbal ‘field-saturation’ (raśmi → nabhas) + enclosure formula (āvṛtaḥ).
Darkness, night-born entities, obstruction (antarāya), uncanny approach from behind (metaphor for surprise harm).
At sunrise the rays extend from behind to in front (west→east / darkness→light). The sky is ‘carried/filled’ by rays; Mahendra arrives ‘encompassed’—a totalizing protective advent.
Attention and vitality move from the ‘rear’ (past, fear, inertia) to the ‘fore’ (intention, orientation, auspicious direction). The psyche is re-lit; intrusive forces are displaced by a coherent field of clarity.
Order is restored when consciousness turns toward light: what was scattered becomes pervaded; protection is experienced as a surrounding wholeness rather than a single point-defense.
- paścāt
- the past, the unconscious, hidden danger/darkness
- prāñcaḥ
- auspicious orientation, right order, future-directed resolve
- udeti
- renewal, daily rebirth, return of dharma/order
- raśmi
- binding/protective filaments; ‘tethers’ that hold space together
- nabhas
- the total field of life-experience; the ‘upper’ protective canopy
- ābhṛtam
- saturated field—no gaps for harm to enter
- āvṛtaḥ
- armoured wholeness; apotropaic enclosure
Dawn-expansion: visualize awareness moving from ‘behind’ to ‘ahead,’ filling the skull-space and heart-space with light.
Anāhata / Ājñā (light-pervasion and directional clarity).
Gentle sūrya-bhedana or simple slow inhalation imagining rays spreading; exhale sealing the perimeter.
Rays form a dome above and a net around the body-house; no gaps remain.
Pratyāhāra into a luminous, protected field; then dhāraṇā on eastward clarity.
Perform 3–9 recitations at dawn, then sit silently for one minute feeling ‘āvṛti’ (enclosure) without strain.
Recite in a steady udātta-anudātta flow per Pada text; emphasize udātta on key verbs (udeti, bhāsati) and enclosure term (āvṛtaḥ).
Keep clear pada breaks: paścāt | prāñcaḥ | ā tanvanti | yat | udeti | vi bhāsati || raśmibhiḥ | nabhaḥ | ābhṛtam | mahendraḥ | eti | āvṛtaḥ.
Maintain retroflex ṇ in prāñcaḥ, Keep aspirate in bhāsati (bhā-), Distinct raśmibhiḥ (śm) cluster, āvṛtaḥ: long ā + vṛ (ṛ vowel)
Clear, bright, slightly projecting (dawn-proclamation).
Best paired with actual sunrise; treat the environment (room/threshold) as the ‘nabhas’ being filled.
9
Feeling vulnerable on waking; moving into a new home; starting travel; after nightmares or ominous dreams.
At sunrise, or at the first opening of the day (doors/windows).
Sense of protected space, clearer directionality, reduced fear and mental fog.
Not a substitute for medical care for persistent anxiety/depression; avoid sun-gazing hazards—use safe dawn light exposure.
पदच्छेद (Vedic): पश्चात् | प्राञ्चः | आ | तन्वन्ति | यत् | उदेति | वि | भासति | रश्मिभिः | नभः | आभृतम् | महेन्द्रः | एति | आवृतः । (1) प्राञ्च॒ आ → प्राञ्चः + आ (विसर्ग-लोप/संहितायां ‘प्राञ्च आ’ इति पाठः; पदपाठे प्राञ्चः आ)। (2) यदु॒देति → यत् + उदेति (त् + उ → दु संधि/जश्त्व-प्रभावः संहितायाम्)। (3) रश्मिभि॒र्नभ॒ → रश्मिभिः + नभः (विसर्गस्य ‘र्’ आदेशः परे घोषे ‘न’ इत्यादौ)। (4) ए॒त्यावृ॑तः → एति + आवृतः (इ + आ → या/य्-आगमः; संहितायां ‘एत्यावृतः’)।
Ask anything about this verse
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.
