Shloka 30
Āloka-dāna (Dīpa-dāna), Sumanas–Dhūpa–Dīpa Phala: Manu–Suvarṇa and Śukra–Bali Exempla
ओपषध्यो रक्तपुष्पाश्न कटुका: कण्टकान्विता: । शत्रूणामभिचारार्थमाथर्वेषु निदर्शिता:
oṣadhyo raktapuṣpāś ca kaṭukāḥ kaṇṭakānvitāḥ | śatrūṇām abhicārārtham ātharveṣu nidarśitāḥ ||
शुक्र उवाच—ओषध्यो रक्तपुष्पा ये कटुकाः कण्टकान्विताः, शत्रूणामभिचारार्थमाथर्वेषु निदर्शिताः।
शुक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse records an Atharvavedic prescription: certain plant qualities (red flowers, bitterness, thorns) are associated with abhicāra—harm-intending rites against enemies—thereby highlighting that some ritual knowledge is explicitly oriented toward aggression rather than healing.
Śukra, speaking as an authority on policy and specialized knowledge, cites Atharvavedic indications about which kinds of herbs are used in enemy-directed hostile rites, describing their identifying features rather than narrating a specific event.