Atharva Veda 2.26.5: Kanda 2, Anuvaka 3, Sukta 26, Mantra 5
Sukta 26
आ ह॑रामि॒ गवां॑ क्षी॒रमाहा॑र्षं धा॒न्यं॑१ रस॑म्। आहृ॑ता अ॒स्माकं॑ वी॒रा आ पत्नी॑रि॒दमस्त॑कम्
ā hárāmi gávāṃ kṣīrám ā́hārṣaṃ dhā́nyaṃ rásam | ā́hṛtā asmā́kaṃ vīrā́ ā́ patnī́r idám ástakam ||
Hither I bring the milk of kine; hither have I brought the grain, the sap. Brought hither are our heroes; hither our wives—this homestead (is made ours).
Przywożę mleko krów; przywiozłem zboże, sok. Przywiezieni są nasi bohaterowie; przywiezione nasze żony, to siedlisko (staje się nasze).
Rishi: Atharvanic/Aṅgiras-type attribution typical for Paustika material (specific r̥ṣi as per Anukramaṇī to be confirmed for AV 2.26).
Devata: Puṣṭi/Śrī-like prosperity force expressed through food-essences (milk, grain, rasa); implicitly the household’s sustaining powers rather than a single named deva.
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (probable; to be confirmed against pada-count in the Saunaka metrical listing).
Primary: shanta
Secondary: shringara
Sāyaṇa construes the repeated ā- as deliberate ‘āharaṇa’ (drawing-in) of prosperity-substances into the gṛha. ‘Milk’ and ‘grain’ are read not merely as foods but as embodiments of rasa (vital essence) whose presence ensures puṣṭi (increase). ‘Vīrāḥ’ are the household’s male issue/defenders; ‘patnīḥ’ completes the domestic order and fertility. The closing deictic (‘idam’) fixes the rite upon the present dwelling/seat, effecting a verbal ‘installation’ of prosperity into the house.
To draw and secure into one’s household the essential forms of prosperity—cattle-produce (milk), agrarian produce (grain), vital essence (rasa), and the social fullness of family (men/sons and wives).
Supportive bṛṃhaṇa imagery (milk/grain) and rasa-dhātu nourishment; useful as a convalescent ‘strength’ affirmation in a non-clinical sense.
Family cohesion and ‘homecoming’ rituals after displacement; nutrition-and-care framing for recovery environments.
paustika
Household center (astaka) and its members/resources
To draw into the household the core forms of prosperity—milk, grain, vitality—and to gather family members, establishing secure possession of the homestead.
Directional summoning (ā-) + naming of essentials + performative claim over domestic locus; likely accompanied by bringing/placing substances at hearth or storehouse.
Loss, estrangement, wandering of fortune/people, insecurity of dwelling
Food stores, dairy yield, family fullness, stable residence
The speaker ‘brings here’ the milk of cows and has brought grain and rasa. Likewise, the household’s heroes and wives are brought here; the homestead (astaka) is claimed and stabilized as ‘ours’.
A home is made by gathering essentials: nourishment, vitality, and relationships. Psychologically, it is a reintegration charm—calling back belonging, commitment, and shared purpose so the ‘house’ becomes an inner steadiness, not merely a building.
Security arises when life’s essentials—food, vitality, and loving bonds—are consciously gathered and affirmed as a shared dwelling. Prosperity is not only possession but cohesion.
- ā harāmi / āhārṣam / āhṛtāḥ
- repatriation, retrieval, re-centering of fortune and kin
- kṣīra
- sustaining nurture, fertility
- dhānya
- food-security, stored life
- rasa
- vitality, ‘juice’ of life and continuity
- vīrāḥ
- protective capacity, lineage, courage
- patnīḥ
- domestic continuity, partnership, household order
- astaka
- center of belonging; fixed hearth-space where prosperity is anchored
‘Home within’: cultivate an inner hearth where nourishment, vitality, and relationships are held without scattering.
Anāhata (belonging) and Mūlādhāra (dwelling/security)
Slow diaphragmatic breathing; inhale on ā… phrases, exhale on the completion of each pāda.
Visualize a warm hearth-light in the pelvis/abdomen drawing in white (milk) and golden (grain) streams; family silhouettes gather in that light.
Settled, safe, cohesive.
Pair recitation with a concrete ‘bringing-in’: tidy the home, stock staples, reconcile with a family member—making the mantra’s ā- real.
Emphasize the repeated ā as a directional pull; observe accents as provided (hárāmi, gवां॑, क्षी॒रम्, āhā̍rṣaṃ, dhānyaṃ, rasa̍m).
Slightly lengthen the first ā of each clause; let ‘idam astakam’ land as a firm claim.
āhārṣam: keep ṛ audible (not ‘ar’ swallowed), patnīḥ: long ī; retroflex ṇ not present—use dental n, astakam: clear st; avoid inserting vowel between s-t
Warm, inclusive, gathering tone.
Directional particles (ā, saṃ) are performative in Atharvan charms; chant while physically moving substances inward for best traditional congruence.
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After relocation, family separation, or when the home feels ‘hollow’—lacking food-security or cohesion.
During stocking of staples, housewarming, post-travel reunion meal, or harvest storage.
Traditional aim of drawing prosperity and family fullness into the home; psychologically, increased sense of belonging and stability.
Do not use as a substitute for resolving domestic conflict or material insecurity through practical means; avoid food waste.
पदच्छेदः (सम्भाव्यः): आ | हरामि | गवाम् | क्षीरम् | आ | आहर्षम् | धान्यम् | रसम् | आहृताः | अस्माकम् | वीराः | आ | पत्नीः | इदम् | अस्तकम्। 1) आह॑रामि = आ + हरामि (उपसर्ग-योगः). 2) गवां क्षीरम्: षष्ठी-सम्बन्धः ‘गवाम्’ + कर्म ‘क्षीरम्’. 3) आहा॑र्षम् = आ + आहर्षम् (आ-उपसर्गयुक्त लुङ्; संहितायां दीर्घ/स्वरचिह्नभेदः). 4) आहृ॑ता = आहृताः (क्त-प्रत्यय; संहितायां विसर्गलोप/स्वरभेदः). 5) पत्नी॑रि॒दम् = पत्नीः + इदम् (विसर्गः → र्, ‘ः’ + इ- प्रारम्भे ‘र्’).
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