Sukta 83
Rishi: Atharvanic healer tradition (anonymous/collective)
Devata: Sūrya and Candramas (as healers); disease-personification (Apaciti) as target
Chandas: Mixed/Anuṣṭubh tendency (AV healing verses often anuṣṭubh; first segment includes an exclamatory heading)
Этот краткий бхайшаджья-гимн изгоняет истощающую болезнь (Апачити), заставляя её «улететь» со своего места, и утверждает солнечно‑лунное исцеление как восстанавливающую противосилу. Действие совершается через: (1) яркий образ изгнания (болезнь как птица, которую выгоняют), (2) называние и отведение прочих болезнетворных агентов, чтобы предотвратить возвращение, и (3) закрепление обряда формулой возлияния, обеспечивающей ритуальную действенность.
Kind of charm
Mantras
Mantra 1
भैषज्यम्। अप॑चितः॒ प्र प॑तत सुप॒र्णो व॑स॒तेरि॑व । सूर्यः॑ कृ॒णोतु॑ भेष॒जं च॒न्द्रमा॒ वोऽपो॑च्छतु
Лекарство! Да улетит прочь иссушающая болезнь — как прекраснокрылый птиц из своего жилища. Да сотворит Солнце лекарство; да отведёт его от вас Луна.
Mantra 2
एन्येका॒ श्येन्येका॑ कृ॒ष्णैका॒ रोहि॑णी॒ द्वे। सर्वा॑सामग्रभं॒ नामावी॑रघ्नी॒रपे॑तन
Одна — Эṇī, одна — Śyenī, одна — Kṛṣṇā, и две — Rohiṇī. Имена всех их я постиг: безвредные для героев — прочь, уходите!
Mantra 3
अ॒सूति॑का रामाय॒ण्यऽप॒चित् प्र प॑तिष्यति । ग्लरि॒तः प्र प॑तिष्यति॒ स ग॑लु॒न्तो न॑शिष्यति
Asūtikā, Rāmāyaṇī — иссушающая болезнь — да улетит прочь. Glarita да улетит прочь; из неё Galunta да не останется позади.
Mantra 4
वी॒हि स्वामाहु॑तिं जुषा॒णो मन॑सा॒ स्वाहा॒ मन॑सा॒ यदि॒दं जु॒होमि॑
Принеси сюда своё собственное возлияние, радуясь ему: умом — Svāhā! — умом, какое бы приношение здесь я ни совершал.
Inside Sukta 83
How it unfolds
- How it opens
Begins with an exclamatory heading ‘Bhaiṣajyam—A remedy!’ and immediately commands Apaciti to fly forth like a bird from its dwelling, while calling on Sūrya and Candramas as healers.
- What it asks
That the wasting sickness be expelled and cleared away from the patient by solar and lunar medicine, with no remnant left behind.
- Where its power lies
Efficacy is asserted through direct imperative banishment and the technical naming of multiple disease-agents, culminating in the formula ‘na śiṣyati’ (none remains).
- How it closes
Ends by sealing the act with an āhuti acceptance-formula—‘with mind, svāhā’—ensuring the offering is received and the rite becomes operative.
Famous verses
bhaiṣajyam … apacitaḥ pra patata
sa galunto na śiṣyati
manasā svāhā
Kind of hymn
Bhaiṣajya (Healing)
What it is for
Complete expulsion of wasting/consumptive affliction (Apaciti and allied names), purification of the patient, and prevention of any remaining trace or recurrence.
Who it is for
Atharvanic healer/practitioner treating a patient with signs of wasting, chronic debility, or recurring illness; householders employing protective healing recitations with simple offerings.
Also used as
- Shantika
- Apotropaic
The deity
Sūrya and Candramas function as cosmic physicians whose light restores order and vitality; Apaciti and other named agents are personified wasting diseases to be expelled; Agni guarantees the rite’s ‘delivery’ through the accepted offering.
Powers of the deity
- Drives out wasting disease from its dwelling-place
- Purifies and ‘clears away’ affliction through lunar cooling/cleansing power
- Establishes restorative vitality through solar force
- Defeats relapse by naming and banishing residual disease-agents
- Seals the operation through properly received āhuti (svāhā)
Why the deity is called
To enlist the Sun and Moon as the primary therapeutic powers for removal and restoration, while directly commanding Apaciti and companion afflictions to depart completely; Agni is invoked to carry/validate the offering that anchors the cure.
The seer
- Anonymous Atharvanic healer (collective tradition)Atharvan. Bhaiṣajya charms for expelling named disease-personifications, especially wasting/consumptive afflictions, using banishment formulas and ritual sealing via āhuti
Other hymns of this seer
- AV 6.82 (adjacent short healing/apotropaic hymn, Atharvanic style)
- AV 6.84 (adjacent short healing/apotropaic hymn, Atharvanic style)
Preparing for the rite
- Seat the patient in a clean, quiet place; orient ideally toward the light (east) if feasible.
- Prepare a small fire or lamp for a simple āhuti; keep water available for sprinkling/cleansing.
- Mentally identify the illness as Apaciti (and allied agents) to be addressed by name (diagnosis-by-naming).
The rite
- Recite 6.83.1 as the ‘dispatch’ mantra, imagining the disease flying out like a bird from its dwelling.
- Recite the disease-name expulsion sequence (e.g., 6.83.3) with firm intention that none of it remains (anti-relapse).
- Conclude with the oblation-seal (6.83.4), offering a small āhuti with svāhā to stabilize the removal and restoration.
What it needs
- Simple āhuti (commonly ghee; alternatively a standard household oblation)
- Fire (Agni) or a ritual flame/lamp
- Water for light sprinkling/ritual purification (optional, supportive)
When
Preferably at sunrise or in a liminal time when light returns (dawn); may also be done when symptoms flare, with a concluding āhuti.
The main substance
Āhuti (typically ghee) offered into fire as the sealing act
How it is prepared
Prepare a small, clean offering (ghee or customary oblation). After recitation, offer with svāhā (6.83.4) as the confirmatory seal; optionally sprinkle water as a supportive purification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Apaciti is a personified wasting or consuming sickness. The hymn treats it as an agent that can be commanded to depart from its ‘dwelling’ in the patient.
They represent complementary cosmic medicines: the Sun as restoring, vitalizing power and the Moon as cleansing, cooling removal of affliction. Together they enact both expulsion and recovery.
It functions as a ritual seal: the offering is mentally and verbally confirmed as accepted, so the healing action is ‘made effective’ and stabilized against return of the illness.
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