Atharva Veda 2.28.4: Kanda 2, Anuvaka 3, Sukta 28, Mantra 4

Sukta 28

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

द्यौष्ट्वा॑ पि॒ता पृ॑थि॒वी मा॒ता ज॒रामृ॑त्युं कृणुतां संविदा॒ने। यथा॒ जीवा॒ अदि॑तेरु॒पस्थे॑ प्राणापा॒नाभ्यां॑ गुपि॒तः श॒तं हिमाः॑

Recitation with translationAtharva Veda 2.28.4

IAST Transliteration

dyáuṣ tvā́ pitā́ pṛthivī́ mātā́ jarā́mṛ́tyuṁ kṛṇutāṁ saṁvidāné | yáthā jī́vā áditer upásthe prāṇāpānā́bhyāṁ gupitáḥ śatáṁ himā́ḥ ||

English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)

Heaven, thy Father, and Earth, thy Mother, in concord let them make old age and death to be afar from thee; so mayest thou, living, in Aditi’s lap, guarded by in-breath and out-breath, attain a hundred winters.

Translation

த்யௌ (வானம்) உன் தந்தை; ப்ருதிவீ (பூமி) உன் தாய்—இருவரும் ஒற்றுமையுடன் உனக்காக ஜரா (முதுமை) மற்றும் ம்ருத்யு (மரணம்) ஆகியவற்றைத் தூரப்படுத்தட்டும். அதிதியின் மடியில் நீ உயிருடன் இருந்து, பிராண-அபானங்களால் காக்கப்பட்டு, நூறு குளிர்காலங்கள் (ஆண்டுகள்) அடைவாயாக.

The meaning

What it says

Heaven as father and Earth as mother, in concord, are asked to make jarā-mṛtyu far away. The patient is to live in Aditi’s lap, guarded by prāṇa and apāna, and reach a hundred winters.

The inner meaning

Cosmic parenting provides the deepest safety-image: one’s life is held by the widest possible family (Dyāvā–Pṛthivī). Aditi’s ‘lap’ is boundless containment; breath-guarding is the daily mechanism by which that containment becomes embodied longevity.

The truth in it

When life is grounded (Earth), oriented (Heaven), and held in spaciousness (Aditi), the breath becomes a guardian and time can unfold to completion.

What it is for

Kind of hymn

Bhaisajya (Healing) / Ayusya (Longevity)

Its aim

To avert premature senescence and death, and to secure full lifespan (śata-himāḥ) by stabilizing the vital airs.

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Word by Word

Pada patha

द्यौः । त्वा । पिता । पृथिवी । माता । जरामृत्युम् । कृणुताम् । संविदाने । यथा । जीवाः । अदितेः । उपस्थे । प्राणापानाभ्याम् । गुपितः । शतम् । हिमाः ।

द्यौः

Heaven (Sky)Heaven (Dyauḥ), the paternal sky-power invoked as a protecting progenitorNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot द्यौ (प्रातिपदिक) / दिव् (धातु: द्युतौ) आधार

त्वा

you (acc. sg.)thee (the patient/recipient), the one to be guarded by the ritePronounद्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

पिता

fatherfather; protective begetter, here Heaven as the ritual guardianNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)

पृथिवी

EarthEarth (Pṛthivī), the maternal ground-power, sustaining and shelteringNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot पृथिवी (प्रातिपदिक)

माता

mothermother; nourishing protectress, here Earth as the ritual guardianNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot मातृ (प्रातिपदिक)

जरामृत्युम्

old age and deathold-age-and-death (jarā + mṛtyu); the paired afflictions to be warded off/held at bayNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot जरा-मृत्यु (समास-प्रातिपदिक; द्वन्द्व/समाहारार्थ) आधार

कृणुताम्

let the two make / remove / effectlet them make/ordain; performatively ‘effect’ protection by divine actVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), प्रथमपुरुष, द्विवचनRole क्रियाRoot कृ (धातु)

संविदाने

being in agreement, acting with mutual consentbeing in concord/compact; acting by mutual agreement (Heaven and Earth jointly)Adjective/Participleवर्तमानकृदन्त (शानच्/आन), प्रथमा/द्वितीया?—अत्र सप्तमी द्विवचन (संविदाने) ; उभयकर्तृ-विशेषणम्Role अधिकरण (भावे: ‘in mutual agreement’) / कर्तृ-विशेषणRoot सम्-विद् (धातु) → संविदान (कृदन्त)

यथा

so that / just asso that; in such wise that (introducing the desired model/outcome)Indeclinableअव्ययRole सम्बन्ध/उपमान-निर्देशRoot यथा (अव्यय)

जीवाः

living beingsliving (ones); here ‘alive, life-possessing’—the wished-for state of the beneficiaryNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot जीव (प्रातिपदिक)

अदितेः

of Aditiof Aditi; of the boundless mother, source of wholeness and freedom from harmNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root अदिति (प्रातिपदिक)

उपस्थे

in the lap/bosomin the lap/bosom; in protective embrace (a standard idiom of safeguarding)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचनRole अधिकरणRoot उपस्थ (प्रातिपदिक)

प्राणापानाभ्याम्

by inhalation and exhalation (vital breaths)by prāṇa and apāna; the two vital airs (in-breath and out-breath) as life-supporting forcesNounपुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, द्विवचनRole करणRoot प्राण-अपान (समास-प्रातिपदिक; द्वन्द्व)

गुपितः

protected, guardedguarded, kept safe; magically ‘secured’ against decay and deathAdjective/Participleभूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृ-विशेषण (जीवः/जीवात्मा implied) / कर्मणि-भावRoot गुप् (धातु: रक्षणे) → गुपित (कृदन्त)

शतम्

a hundreda hundred; the conventional full measure of lifespanNumeral/Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (परिमाण)Role कर्म (काल-परिमाण)Root शत (प्रातिपदिक)

हिमाः

winters; yearswinters/years; ‘winters’ as the counted units of a complete lifeNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृ/काल-निर्देश (परिमाण-सम्बन्ध)Root हिम (प्रातिपदिक; ‘winter’ → ‘year’ as season-cycle)

Sandhi Notes

• द्यौः त्वा पिता पृथिवी माता जरामृत्युम् कृणुताम् संविदाने। यथा जीवाः अदितेः उपस्थे प्राणापानाभ्याम् गुपितः शतम् हिमाः। मुख्य सन्धयः:
• (1) द्यौः + त्वा → द्यौष्ट्वा (विसर्ग + त् = ष्ट्)
• (2) अदि॑तेरु॒पस्थे → अदितेः उपस्थे (ः + उ = रु/रेफ-सन्धि; पदपाठे पृथक्)
• (3) प्राणापा॒नाभ्यां → प्राणापानाभ्याम् (द्वन्द्व-समास; दीर्घ-सन्धि/समास-समाहार)

Seer, deity and metre

Rishi

Atharvanic tradition (Āyuṣya-prayoga; specific ṛṣi attribution varies in ancillary indices for AV 2.28).

Devata

Dyāvāpṛthivī (Heaven-and-Earth), with Aditi and the vital airs (Prāṇa/Apāna) as operative powers.

Chandas

Triṣṭubh (11-syllable cadence typical of such expansive petitions; to be confirmed against pada syllable-count in your metrical parser).

Rasa

Shanta and Adbhuta

Sayana's Commentary

The Seer

The Deity

The Metre

The Rite

In the Home

Substances

Healing Context

Magic Charm Layer

Symbols in this Mantra

Yogic Application

Chanting Notes

Practical Application

Scholarly Questions