Sukta 24
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (Anukramaṇī attribution for this prosperity hymn; commonly Atharvan/Angiras-type seer)
Devata: Dhānya/Annasaṁpatti (personified abundance); also implicit Prajāpati/Br̥haspati-style prosperity agency
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (4×8, with Atharvanic flexibility)
AV 3.24 é um hino paustika que «instala» a abundância nos celeiros e nos campos de uma casa, invocando um fluxo inesgotável (akṣiti) na imagem de uma nascente de muitos veios. Ele chama a prosperidade não como um desejo vago, mas como um poder organizado —que recolhe, administra e distribui o grão— e, ao mesmo tempo, lava a praga/a maldição, como rios nutridos pela chuva. O objetivo operativo do hino é um aumento estável e repetível: uma fartura que não diminui, não apodrece nem se esvai.
Kind of charm
Mantras
Mantra 1
समृद्घि-प्राप्तिः। पय॑स्वती॒रोष॑धयः॒ पय॑स्वन्माम॒कं वचः॑ । अथो॒ पय॑स्वतीना॒मा भ॑रे॒ऽहं स॑हस्र॒शः
Ó Ervas ricas em leite (payas): rica em leite, nutritiva seja a minha própria fala. E do tesouro das ricas-em-leite eu o trago a mim mil vezes.
Mantra 2
वेदा॒हं पय॑स्वन्तं च॒का॑र धा॒न्यं ऽ ब॒हु। सं॒भृत्वा॒ नाम॒ यो दे॒वस्तं व॒यं ह॑वामहे॒ योयो॒ अय॑ज्वनो गृ॒हे
Eu conheço o Poder que tornou o grão rico em leite e abundante. Tendo-o reunido, a esse Deus nós invocamos — aquele que (o alcança) até mesmo na casa de quem não sacrifica.
Mantra 3
इ॒मा याः पञ्च॑ प्र॒दिशो॑ मान॒वीः पञ्च॑ कृ॒ष्टयः॑ । वृ॒ष्टे शापं॑ न॒दीरि॑वे॒ह स्फा॒तिं समा॑वहान्
Estas — quais cinco direções são humanas, quais cinco povos (nelas habitam) —, como rios, pela chuva, levam embora uma maldição: para cá traz tu, por inteiro, aumento e prosperidade.
Mantra 4
उदुत्सं॑ श॒तधा॑रं स॒हस्र॑धार॒मक्षि॑तम्। ए॒वास्माके॒दं धा॒न्यं ऽ स॒हस्र॑धार॒मक्षि॑तम्
Que se erga a nascente, de cem correntes, de mil correntes, inesgotável. Assim seja também este nosso grão: de mil correntes, inesgotável.
Mantra 5
शत॑हस्त स॒माह॑र॒ सह॑स्रहस्त॒ सं कि॑र । कृ॒तस्य॑ का॒र्यऽस्य चे॒ह स्फा॒तिं स॒माव॑ह
Ó de cem mãos, ajunta aqui; ó de mil mãos, amontoa num só. Do que foi ganho e do que ainda resta fazer, traz para cá o aumento — aqui mesmo.
Mantra 6
ति॒स्रो मात्रा॑ गन्ध॒र्वाणां॒ चत॑स्रो गृ॒हप॑त्न्याः । तासां॒ या स्फा॑ति॒मत्त॑मा॒ तया॑ त्वा॒भि मृ॑शामसि
Três são as medidas dos Gandharvas, quatro as medidas das Senhoras da Casa. Com aquela que é mais rica em aumento — com ela te tocamos por todos os lados.
Mantra 7
उ॒पो॒हश्च॑ समू॒हश्च॑ क्ष॒त्तारौ॑ ते प्रजापते । तावि॒हा व॑हतां स्फा॒तिं ब॒हुं भू॒मान॒मक्षि॑तम्
Upoh e Samūh são teus dois intendentes, ó Prajāpati. Que tragam para cá o aumento — muito, pleno, inesgotável.
Inside Sukta 24
How it unfolds
- How it opens
The hymn opens by orienting prosperity across the human directions and peoples, asking thriving to be drawn in from everywhere while misfortune is washed away like a curse carried off by rivers in rain.
- What it asks
A single repeated petition: sphāti (increase) and dhānya (grain) should come in fullness—bahu, bhūman—and remain akṣiti, undwindling.
- Where its power lies
Efficacy is asserted through vivid equivalence: as a spring rises in hundred- and thousand-fold streams, so should grain rise in the household—continuous, inexhaustible flow.
- How it closes
The conclusion seals prosperity by placing it under Prajāpati’s ordering power via Upoh and Samūh, the ‘two stewards,’ who are commanded to bring increase here, now, in stable form.
Famous verses
sahasradhāram akṣitam
bahuṃ bhūmānam akṣitam
Kind of hymn
Paustika (Prosperity)
What it is for
Superabundant and non-wasting grain supply, steady increase in yield and stores, and removal of forces believed to diminish prosperity.
Who it is for
Householders, farmers, granary-keepers, village heads, and ritual specialists performing prosperity rites for home, field, or storehouse.
Also used as
- Shantika
- Raksha (protective)
- Apotropaic (curse/blight removal)
The deity
Personified grain-abundance and the condition of well-provisioned stores, supported by Sphāti (increase/thriving) and framed under Prajāpati-like governance of resources; Upoh and Samūh appear as functional “stewards” of supply and aggregation.
Powers of the deity
- Makes grain and provisions multiply and remain undiminished (akṣiti)
- Turns scarcity into continuous flow, likened to a many-streamed spring
- Gathers and consolidates resources (samūh) and manages distribution/supply (upoh)
- Removes blight/curse and misfortune as rain and rivers carry away impurity
- Stabilizes household subsistence and community prosperity across directions/peoples
Why the deity is called
To bring “much, full, undwindling” prosperity into the household/storehouse, ensuring ongoing yield and protecting stored grain from loss, waste, and ill luck.
The seer
- Atharvanic seer (Atharvan/Āṅgirasa-type attribution)Atharvan. Paustika charms for increase (sphāti), safeguarding stores (annasaṃpatti), averting depletion (akṣiti), and removing crop/household blight through rain-and-river purification imagery
Other hymns of this seer
- AV 3.23
- AV 3.25
- AV 6.142
- AV 7.11
Preparing for the rite
- Clean the granary/store area and the threshing-floor; sweep and sprinkle with clean water.
- Assemble a measured portion of grain to be ‘consecrated’ as the seed/store exemplar.
- Prepare a water vessel (preferably from a well/spring) as the hymn’s abundance-metaphor made tangible.
- Seat the reciter facing east or toward the storehouse opening; maintain silence and intention (saṅkalpa) for increase and non-wasting.
The rite
- Recite the sukta over the grain heap and over the water vessel, alternating gaze between them to link ‘spring-flow’ and ‘grain-flow’.
- On verses invoking akṣiti and sphāti, touch or lightly stir the top of the grain heap (symbolic activation of increase).
- On the Prajāpati/‘stewards’ verse, gesture as if ‘calling in’ supplies (ā-vah) toward the storehouse.
- Conclude by sprinkling a few drops of the water around the grain container/threshold and placing a small consecrated portion back into the main store.
What it needs
- Dhānya (grain: rice/barley/wheat as locally primary)
- Water from a well/spring (utsa) or clean running water
- Grain basket/jar; storehouse threshold space
- Optional: a small cloth pouch for a ‘prosperity handful’ kept with the stores
When
At the start of storage (post-harvest), on a bright fortnight day, or before sowing; also when stores seem to diminish unexpectedly.
The main substance
Dhānya (grain)
Amulets
- Cloth pouch containing a ‘consecrated handful’ of grain kept in the granary
- Knotted thread tied to the grain vessel/door-latch as a marker of protected stores (optional, local practice)
How it is prepared
Set aside a clean handful of the household’s grain; recite the sukta over it and over well-water, then mix the handful back into the main store and sprinkle the water at the threshold/around the heap.
Frequently Asked Questions
For increasing and stabilizing grain supplies—both stored grain and ongoing yield—so that provisions become plentiful and do not dwindle (akṣiti).
The spring is a ritual image of continuous, renewing flow. By stating “as the spring rises in a thousand streams, so be our grain,” the mantra transfers that inexhaustibility to the household’s food supply.
They are personified functions—like stewards of supply and aggregation—placed under Prajāpati’s authority, invoked to ‘bring in’ increase and consolidate it into stable abundance.
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