Atharva Veda 2.27.4: Kanda 2, Anuvaka 3, Sukta 27, Mantra 4
Sukta 27
पा॒टामिन्द्रो॒ व्याऽश्ना॒दसु॑रेभ्य॒ स्तरी॑तवे । प्राशं॒ प्रति॑प्राशो जह्यर॒सान् कृ॑ण्वोषधे
pāṭā́m índro ví aśnād ásurebhyaḥ stárītave | prāśáṃ práti-prāśo jahy arásān kṛ́ṇvoṣadhe ||
Let Indra eat the Pāṭā, to prevail against the Asuras. With dose confronting counter-dose, smite thou the sap-destroyers; make (us) whole, O Herb.
पाटामिन्द्रो व्याऽश्नादसुरेभ्यस्तरीतवे। प्राशं प्रतिप्राशो जह्यरसान् कृण्वोषधे॥
The meaning
What it says
Indra is said to ‘eat’ the Pāṭā herb to prevail against Asuras; with dose against counter-dose, the herb is commanded to smite sap-destroyers and restore wholeness.
The inner meaning
Even the divine model ‘takes medicine’: accepting remedy is not weakness but wisdom. Pāṭā becomes the inner antidote that lets one digest life’s poisons—emotional and physical.
The truth in it
Strength includes the humility to take the right remedy; when the antidote is internalized, destructive forces lose their nourishment.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Bhaisajya (Healing) with apotropaic (Rakṣoghna) force
Its aim
To neutralize wasting/essence-draining afflictions and repel demonic/hostile agencies by administering the Pāṭā herb as an antidotal ‘counter-dose’
Word by Word
Pada patha
पा॒टाम् । इन्द्रः । वि । अश्नात् । असु॑रेभ्यः । स्तरी॑तवे । प्राशम् । प्रति॑-प्राशः । जहि । अर॒सान् । कृ॑ण्व । ओषधे ।
- पाटाम्
- (the herb) pāṭā (as object)Pāṭā-plant (medicinal creeper); here a potent herb/antidote employed as a protective and curative substanceNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्मRoot पाटा (प्रातिपदिक)
- इन्द्रः
- IndraIndra, the paradigmatic slayer of hostile powers; invoked as divine prototype for the herb’s conquering efficacyNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- वि
- apart, asunder; forth (intensifier)apart, asunder; indicating dispersal/undoing of hostile influenceIndeclinableउपसर्गRoot वि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- अश्नात्
- ate; consumedmay he eat/consume; i.e., take in (the herb) so as to internalize its powerVerbलुङ् (अorist), परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचनRole क्रियाRoot अश् (अश्नोति)
- असुरेभ्यः
- from the Asurasfrom/against the Asuras (demonic/hostile beings); also a generalized class of malignant agenciesNounपुंलिङ्ग; पञ्चमी विभक्ति; बहुवचनRole अपादानRoot असुर (प्रातिपदिक)
- स्तरीतवे
- to spread out; to strew (for the purpose of)for overcoming, for getting the better of, for crossing beyond; ‘to surmount’ hostile forcesVerbतवेन्-प्रत्ययान्त (infinitive/dative of purpose)Role प्रयोजन (अर्थे दत्तिवत्)Root स्तॄ (स्तृणाति/स्तारयति) → स्तरीतु (तुमुन्/तवेन् infinitive-base)
- प्राशम्
- a bite/portion (to be eaten)a mouthful, a portion to be eaten; the administered dose (often ritualized as an offering/ingestion)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्मRoot प्राश (प्रातिपदिक; ‘a bite/portion, eating’)
- प्रति
- towards; in return; backIndeclinableअव्ययRoot प्रति (अव्यय/उपसर्ग)
- प्राशः
- the counter-bite/return portionNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot प्राश (प्रातिपदिक)
- जहि
- strike down; killsmite, slay, destroy; imperative to annihilate the harmful agentsVerbलोट् (imperative), परस्मैपद; मध्यमपुरुष; एकवचनRole क्रियाRoot हन्
- अरसान्
- tasteless; sapless; (those) without rasa/vital sapthe ‘sapless’/essence-destroying ones; interpreted as disease-demons or agents that drain rasa (vital sap/juice), i.e., wasting afflictionsAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति; बहुवचनRole कर्मRoot अ-रस (प्रातिपदिक)
- कृणु
- make; renderVerbलोट् (imperative), परस्मैपद; मध्यमपुरुष; एकवचनRole क्रियाRoot कृ
- ओषधे
- O herb (medicinal plant)!O Herb! (vocative); the plant is directly addressed as an animate healing powerNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; संबोधन; एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot ओषधि (प्रातिपदिक) संबोधन
Sandhi Notes
- पा॒टामिन्द्रो॒ → पाटाम् + इन्द्रः (म् + इ = मि)
- व्याऽश्ना॒द् → वि + अश्नात् (उपसर्ग ‘वि’ + लुङ् ‘अश्नात्’; पदपाठे ‘वि अश्नात्’)
- असु॑रेभ्य॒ स्तरी॑तवे → असुरेभ्यः + स्तरीतवे (विसर्ग-लोप/संहितासन्धिः)
- प्रति॑प्राशो → प्रति + प्राशः
- जह्यर॒सान् → जहि + अरसान् (इ + अ = य्-आगमः/यण्-सन्धिः)
- कृ॑ण्वोषधे → कृणु + ओषधे (उ + ओ = व्-आगमः/वृद्धि-सन्धिः)
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition (specific ṛṣi attribution for AVŚ 2.27 varies by anukramaṇī; commonly treated as Atharvan/Angiras-type healing seers)
- Devata
- Pāṭā (Oṣadhi) with Indra as empowering divine model; hostile beings framed as Asuras/arasa-agents
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh (11+11/8+8 style typical of AV healing verses; to be metrically confirmed against pada counts in the edition used)
- Rasa
- Adbhuta and Vira
Sāyaṇa takes pāṭā as a specific oṣadhi of marked rakṣoghna (demon-expelling) and bhaiṣajya (healing) force. ‘Indra eats’ functions as an exemplum: as Indra, by taking/using this herb, overcomes Asuric hostility, so the practitioner/patient, by its ingestion, overcomes malignant agencies. ‘Prāśa’ is the administered portion; ‘prati-prāśa’ is construed as an answering/antidotal counteraction—medicine set against the hostile ‘eating’ (i.e., the consuming disease). ‘Arasāḥ’ are glossed as those that deprive of rasa (vital sap), hence wasting disease-demons; the herb is commanded to destroy them and restore bodily integrity.
Unknown (Atharvanic medicinal tradition; specific ṛṣi varies by anukramaṇī for AVŚ 2.27)
Herb-specific charm tradition (Pāṭā) combining antidotal ingestion with Indra-myth as empowering precedent.
By portraying Indra himself as consuming Pāṭā, the hymn sacralizes medicine-taking and frames healing as participation in divine victory.
Pāṭā (Oṣadhi) with Indra as model-agent
A named antidotal plant enlisted in cosmic conflict: medicine participates in the defeat of disorder (Asuras).
Traditionally associated with antidotal and restorative action (exact identification debated); here, restores rasa and counters harmful ingestion.
Rakṣoghna via ingestion—creates an internal boundary against hostile forces.
4 pādas × ~8 syllables; first half contains herb-name and Indra action; second half is refrain
Name Pāṭā may cause slight metrical heaviness; AV anuṣṭubh accommodates such lexical specificity.
Didactic and practical: ‘Indra eats X’ → ‘therefore you do the counter-dose’ cadence.
Encourages compliance and confidence through divine precedent.
Procure Pāṭā (identified by the tradition) and prepare it as an edible portion (prāśa), typically by pounding/expressing juice or forming a small bolus with water.
Seat the patient facing an auspicious direction; the Atharvan recites the mantra over the prepared dose.
Administer the prāśa to the patient; the phrase ‘prāśaṃ prati-prāśaḥ’ is operationalized as ‘medicine against the hostile consumption’—the dose is given as a counteracting act.
Optionally, a second small portion may be given or symbolically ‘answered’ (counter-dose) to reinforce the notion of retaliation against the affliction.
Conclude with protective gestures (touching the patient’s head/heart, or encircling) while repeating the imperative ‘jahi’ to expel the arasa-agents.
Kauśika Sūtra: Pāṭā-bhaiṣajya/rakṣā-karman context.
Atharvan/Brahman as domestic-healer: identifies the correct oṣadhi, consecrates it by mantra-recitation, and administers it as a ritually empowered medicine; he also performs the apotropaic expulsion through speech-act and gesture.
Recite while preparing and administering a safe herbal preparation identified as Pāṭā within one’s tradition; can be paired with a second ‘counter-dose’ after suspected harmful intake.
Immediately after suspected toxin exposure; or as a course during recovery from depletion.
Householder may recite; a vaidya-like practitioner may select the correct plant and dose.
Treat as a ‘medicine blessing’ mantra; use only safely identified herbs and clinically appropriate care.
Pāṭā (herb/creeper) as ingested medicine (prāśa); Rasa (vital sap/essence) as the threatened life-substance implicitly restored
A climbing vine symbolizes recovery that ‘re-takes ground’; Indra’s eating signifies total assimilation—medicine becomes strength, not merely treatment.
Poisoning/contaminated intake and wasting ‘sapless’ depletion; demonicized affliction (asuric) that drains essence.
Administer Pāṭā as antidotal counter-dose; mantra frames it as Indra-approved and asura-crushing.
Rasa restoration and antidotal (viṣaghna) logic; supports digestion/neutralization imagery (aśnāt).
Using evidence-based antidotes/supportive care after toxin exposure; psychologically, adopting a ‘strong people take remedies’ mindset.
Asura-like hostile forces; disease agents; enemies in a broad Atharvanic sense.
Neutralize sap-destroying afflictions and repel hostile agencies by administering Pāṭā as counter-dose, under Indra’s victorious precedent.
Herb-naming + divine imitation (Indra eats it) + reversal dosing (prāśa/pratiprāśa) + imperative to the herb.
Poison/bewitched food, wasting weakness, hostile magic.
- पा॒टा (pāṭā)
- specific antidotal intelligence; the ‘counter-current’ to poison and depletion
- वि अश्नात् (vi aśnāt)
- complete digestion and neutralization—making the remedy fully one’s own
- असुरेभ्यः (asurebhyaḥ)
- against chaos-forces: toxins, curses, invasive impulses
- प्राश / प्रति-प्राश
- ritual pharmacology of reversal; corrective intake that cancels harmful intake
- रसा (rasa) / अरसा (arasa)
- vitality vs depletion; the aim is restoration of essence
Assimilating the antidote: letting the body-mind fully ‘eat’ what heals and refuse what harms.
manipura
Gentle kapalabhati-like clearing only if appropriate; otherwise steady diaphragmatic breathing to support ‘digestive fire’ imagery safely.
A green vine of light climbs the spine; at each node it neutralizes dark knots labeled ‘asura’ and returns golden rasa to tissues.
Confident, restorative determination.
Use as a short ritual before meals/medicine when recovering—set intention to digest, assimilate, and release what is harmful.
Steady recitation; slightly emphasize the herb-name pāṭām as the ‘key’ word, then settle into the refrain cadence.
Separate vyā’śnāt (vi-aśnāt) cleanly; keep prati-prāśaḥ distinct.
Assured and nurturing—medicine-forward rather than combative.
If no verified Pāṭā is available, recite as a general oṣadhi blessing without ingesting unknown plants.
7 times
Need for antidotal support—after questionable food/water, during depletion, or when feeling ‘drained’ by hostile contexts.
Before a safe remedy or protective dietary step; during a home healing routine.
Greater trust in recovery process; sense of inner protection and restored vitality.
Do not self-administer unidentified ‘Pāṭā’; seek professional guidance for poisoning, severe symptoms, pregnancy, or chronic illness.
The herb is not merely materia medica but a personified agent addressed directly (oṣadhe). Indra’s exemplary ‘ingestion’ sacralizes pharmacology: the plant’s efficacy is framed as a divine, battle-tested power. The key technical idea is ‘counteraction by ingestion’—prāśa vs. prati-prāśa—where medicine ritually answers the disease’s metaphorical ‘eating’ of the patient’s rasa.
Efficacy is mediated by the Atharvan specialist who knows the correct plant, dose, and mantra. Indra’s authority is invoked to legitimate the rite, while the patient is positioned as recipient of a controlled, priest-administered countermeasure. The Asura category functions as a socially intelligible label for hostile ‘others’ (cosmic and human), allowing illness and enmity to be treated within a single ritual-therapeutic register.
The direct vocative to the herb (oṣadhe) and the tight coupling of imperative violence (jahi) with therapeutic making (kṛṇva) is characteristically Atharvanic, blending apotropaic and medical diction. The compound-like reduplication ‘prati-prāśa’ reflects a technical, quasi-procedural register (dose/counter-dose) more at home in AV healing pragmatics than in RV praise-poetry.
Gopatha’s general Atharvanic theory treats mantras as operative speech that compels outcomes when correctly applied with substances and acts. In that frame, this verse’s efficacy arises from (1) homology with Indra’s victorious paradigm, (2) correct ritualized administration (prāśa), and (3) the identification of disease with hostile beings removable by command. A precise Gopatha locus for AVŚ 2.27 should be mapped by edition-specific cross-references, but the underlying rationale matches Gopatha’s emphasis on mantra-karman coupling.
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