Sukta 34

Kind of hymn

Bhaisajya (Healing) / Paustika (Prosperity-Concord)

What it is for

To obtain ‘madhumat’ welfare—health and vigor, honeyed/agreeable speech, and the ability to attract goodwill and assent (bringing another’s mind nearer).

Who it is for

Householders and ritual practitioners seeking healing plus social success—pleasant speech, reconciliation, influence in assemblies, and affectionate attraction.

Also used as

• Bhaisajya
• Vāśīkaraṇa (speech/attraction)
• Saṃmanasya/Concord-making

The deity

The hymn addresses a medicinal creeper as a living, responsive power whose ‘birth’ and essence are madhu—sweetness, honey, pleasantness, and life-sap. Madhu functions both as a material substance (honey) and as an efficacious principle that sweetens speech, mind, and relationships.

Powers of the deity

• Heals and restores bodily well-being through plant potency
• Sweetens speech (vāc) and makes words persuasive/pleasant
• Draws near the ‘citta’ (mind/assent) of others—attraction and concord
• Generates prosperity, social harmony, and favorable regard
• Transforms the practitioner’s condition into ‘madhumat’ (honeyed, thriving)

Why the deity is called

To activate the creeper’s honey-born nature and implant ‘madhu’ into the practitioner—so health, sweetness of speech, and winning influence arise naturally, like honey drawing bees.

The seer

• Atharvanic/Āṅgirasa transmission (edition-dependent r̥ṣi ascription)Atharvan. Bhaiṣajya and paustika charms: plant-based healing, prosperity-making rites, and ‘sweetening’ (madhu) formulas for agreeable speech and attraction/vaśīkaraṇa.

Other hymns of this seer

• AV 1.1 (selected Atharvanic healing/protection hymns; anukramaṇī-dependent)
• AV 1.2 (selected Atharvanic protection cycles; anukramaṇī-dependent)
• AV 1.30–1.36 (adjacent paustika/vaśīkaraṇa-style charm clusters; edition-dependent attributions)

Preparing for the rite

• Choose a fresh vīrut/oṣadhi (creeper) regarded as ‘sweet’ or beneficial; ideally harvested from a clean, living growth.
• Prepare madhu (honey) or a sweet mixture (honey with water or ghee) to anoint the plant and/or the tongue.
• Establish a calm seat and intention (saṅkalpa): ‘May this become madhumat—healthful, pleasing, and concord-producing.’

The rite

• While reciting, dig up or pluck the creeper respectfully (khanāmasi motif), touching it with honey or a honeyed drop.
• Optionally anoint the practitioner’s tongue (tip and root) with a tiny amount of honey while reciting the ‘jihvā’ verse to sweeten speech.
• Hold or bind the creeper as a small talisman, or prepare a simple paste/decoction as appropriate to the plant’s safe use; conclude with a final recitation for attraction/concord.

What it needs

• Vīrut/oṣadhi (medicinal creeper)
• Madhu (honey)
• Optional: water or ghee for dilution
• Optional: thread/cloth for binding as an amulet

When

Preferably morning or early evening; also suitable before speech-acts (meeting, negotiation, reconciliation) or at the start of a healing regimen.

The main substance

Madhu (honey)

Herbs

• Vīrut (a medicinal creeper; specific species varies by local tradition/identification)

Amulets

• A small bound piece of the creeper (tied with thread/cloth)
• Honey-anointed thread (optional, as a ‘sweetening’ band)

How it is prepared

Anoint the creeper with honey at harvest; optionally touch a minute honey-drop to tongue tip and root during recitation. If used medicinally, prepare only in a safe, locally validated way (paste/decoction) and treat the plant primarily as a ritual carrier of ‘madhu’.