Atharva Veda 2.17.2: Kanda 2, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 17, Mantra 2
Sukta 17
बल॑मसि॒ बलं॑ मे दाः॒ स्वाहा॑
bálam asi bálam me dāḥ svā́hā
Thou art strength: give me strength—svāhā!
నీవే బలం; నాకు బలాన్ని ప్రసాదించు. స్వాహా.
The meaning
What it says
The addressed medium is ‘Strength’ (bala) and is asked to bestow strength upon the reciter/recipient, sealed with svāhā.
The inner meaning
Installs a stable ‘can-do’ core: the mind stops negotiating with weakness and begins acting from steadiness and capacity.
The truth in it
Strength is not only muscle; it is coherence—body, breath, and intention aligned. Naming and consecrating strength makes it available as a lived reality.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Paustika (Prosperity/Strength) / Bhaisajya-adjacent (invigoration)
Its aim
To install and increase bodily vigor, endurance, and victorious capacity in the ritual client.
Word by Word
Pada patha
बलम् । असि । बलम् । मे । दाः । स्वाहा ।
- बलम्
- strength (as the object/thing invoked)strength; vital force, bodily and martial power (bala as efficacious potency to be transferred/installed)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot बल (प्रातिपदिक)
- असि
- you arethou art (2nd sg. of √as ‘to be’; identification formula establishing the substance/amulet as ‘strength’ itself)Verbलट् (वर्तमान), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot अस् (धातु)
- बलम्
- strengthNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot बल (प्रातिपदिक)
- मे
- to/for me; myto me; for me (dative/genitive enclitic, marking the beneficiary—patient/ritual client)Pronounषष्ठी विभक्ति, एकवचन (एन्क्लिटिक)Role सम्बन्ध (genitive/possessor)Root अस्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- दाः
- give (you should give)give! bestow! (2nd sg. injunctive/imperative of √dā; performative transfer of bala)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot दा (धातु)
- स्वाहा
- svāhā (ritual exclamation/oblation-call)svāhā (sacrificial acclamation sealing the utterance; marks successful ‘sending’/fixing of the mantra’s effect, often with an oblation or ritual ‘dispatch’)Indeclinableअव्यय (यज्ञीय-उद्गार)Root स्वाहा (निपात/अव्यय)
Sandhi Notes
- ‘बलम् असि’ इत्यत्र म् + अ → ‘बलमसि’ (अनुस्वार/मकारान्तस्य स्वरादौ संयोगः; पदपाठे ‘बलम् असि’)। अन्यत्र संधि-परिवर्तनं नास्ति।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition (specific ṛṣi attribution for AVŚ 2.17 to be confirmed against the Anukramaṇī used in the edition).
- Devata
- Bala (Strength) personified; secondarily the empowered implement/amulet as the immediate addressee.
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh-like short formula (mantric prose/short pāda cadence; to be metrically validated against the pada-count in the edition).
- Rasa
- Vira and Shanta
Sāyaṇa glosses bala as deha-bala and prāṇa-tejas (bodily strength and vital brilliance). The opening identification (balam asi) is taken as a nyāsa-like fixing: the addressed entity (commonly an amulet/substance employed in the karman) is declared to be ‘strength’ in essence, and by the imperative dāḥ it is compelled to transfer that potency to the sacrificer/patient. Svāhā functions as the mantra’s sealing formula, ensuring the successful establishment (pratiṣṭhā) of bala in the recipient.
Atharvan (collective formulary; specific ṛṣi to be confirmed from AV anukramaṇī)
Paustika bala-installation and bhaiṣajya-adjacent invigoration rites using short performative formulas.
Shows the Atharvan technique of making an abstract quality into a ‘deity’ that can be bound into the body via word and medium.
Bala (Strength, personified)
Bala is the stabilizing potency that enables growth, protection, and successful action; it is the ‘support’ behind faculties and limbs.
Supports recovery from weakness, wasting, and loss of functional capacity (traditional).
Creates a buffer against harm that preys on frailty—both physical and social.
Yajus-style short formula (anuṣṭubh-like cadence)
Single compact unit: (balam asi | balaṃ me dāḥ | svāhā).
Liturgical compression; suitable for repeated charging of an amulet/band.
Firm, percussive, strengthening.
Invokes determination; supports somatic ‘bracing’ and confidence.
Prepare the strength-conferring implement (commonly an amulet/maṇi or a consecrated substance specified by the surrounding mantras of the sukta).
Seat the client facing east; the Atharvan priest touches or binds the implement to the client (often at the right arm/neck/chest depending on the karman).
Recite the mantra once (or thrice, per local prayoga) while making contact with the implement and the client, effecting ‘transfer’ (dāḥ) of bala.
If the prayoga is homa-linked, utter svāhā while offering a small oblation (ghee or specified fuel) to ‘dispatch’ and stabilize the potency.
Conclude with a protective gesture (parimārjana/sprinkling) to fix the installed strength.
Kauśika Sūtra: strength/puṣṭi-rites section for bala-bestowal mantras.
Atharvan/Brahman officiant as mantra-technologist: consecrates the implement, performs the binding/touch (bandhana/sparśa), and ensures correct svāhā-accompanied delivery of the formula.
Chant while tying a consecrated thread on arm/waist, or over a small ghee offering; can be used before labor or during recovery.
Morning; before journeys, heavy work, or training; during convalescence.
Householder-led; purohita optional for formal consecration.
To be verified; AV strength-installation formulas are frequently assigned to pratisara/bala rites in KauśS.
Daily recitation before physiotherapy/exercise as a focus cue.
amulet/talisman (maṇi) or strength-conferring substance used as the mantra’s addressed ‘thou’ (context-dependent within the sukta’s karman)
Implied: maṇi/pratisara as a strength-holder bound to the body.
svāhā indicates fire-offering possibility.
Strength is made ‘portable’ via amulet/band and ‘edible’ via offering/food; fire transforms intention into operative force.
General weakness, low stamina, post-fever debility, frailty (traditional).
Consecration and transfer through mantra + touch/binding/ingestion; reinforcing embodied strength through focused speech and ritual action.
Bala as a core Ayurvedic category (sahaja/kālaja/yuktikṛta bala); supported by ojas and proper nourishment.
Strength rehab and conditioning supported by intention, routine, and stress reduction.
Self/patient.
Increase bodily strength and functional resilience.
Identity-bestowal formula; often accompanied by tying a band (pratisara) or offering ghee with svāhā.
Frailty, exhaustion, intimidation, vulnerability.
Work-capacity, victory in tasks, robust health.
- bala
- embodied capacity, resilience, functional competence
- asi
- consecration/identification of the medium as the invoked power
- me dāḥ
- transfer/installation into the self
- svāhā
- activation; offering that ‘feeds’ strength
Embodied strength with softness—activate capacity without tension.
Maṇipūra (power/agency) with grounding to Mūlādhāra (stability).
Steady diaphragmatic breathing; optional brief kumbhaka only if trained and healthy.
Golden light filling muscles and bones; a mountain-like steadiness in the pelvis and spine.
Collected, purposeful readiness.
Chant, then perform a short sequence of safe strengthening movements (e.g., standing posture, gentle squats) within limits.
Firm articulation; keep the cadence consistent across repetitions; svāhā marks the end of each cycle.
Emphasize balaṃ; keep ‘me dāḥ’ clipped and clear; pause after svāhā.
Steady, slightly louder than conversational; avoid throat tension.
When used with a band, chant while winding/tying; the knot is the ‘seal’ matching svāhā.
11 times
General weakness, low confidence, starting a rehab program, heavy workload periods.
Before exercise/physiotherapy; mornings during recovery; before demanding tasks.
Traditional support for strength and steadiness; improved focus and adherence to strengthening routines.
Do not push through pain or serious fatigue; consult clinicians for medical weakness or unexplained weight loss.
This verse is a classic identification-and-transfer formula: the addressed object is declared to be bala itself (balam asi), then commanded to bestow bala (balam me dāḥ). In Atharvanic practice, such mantras commonly ‘animate’ an amulet or a prepared substance so that its material efficacy (whether botanical, mineral, or crafted) becomes a socially legible, ritually transferable power. Even when no plant is named in this single mantra, the surrounding prayoga typically supplies the material substrate whose potency is linguistically converted into ‘strength’ and then installed in the client.
The grammar encodes authority: the client receives (me), while the priestly voice commands the empowered object (dāḥ). The rite presumes a specialist who can correctly identify, consecrate, and compel potency through Vedic speech. This reflects an economy of ritual expertise in which access to bala—vital and martial capacity—is mediated by Atharvanic liturgy and its custodians.
The formulaic copula + predicate noun (X asi) is old and well-attested, but the compact performative style—identification followed by direct transfer-command—typifies Atharvanic pragmatic mantra-language. The explicit svāhā closure aligns the utterance with oblation-style efficacy, a feature more prominent and operationalized in Atharvavedic domestic/magical contexts than in many Rigvedic hymn passages.
Gopatha-style Atharvanic theology treats mantra as a technology of installation (pratiṣṭhā) and protection: naming/identifying a power and ritually ‘placing’ it in the client makes it real and operative. A verse like this exemplifies that logic—speech does not merely praise strength; it constitutes and transfers it, especially when paired with a material support (amulet/substance) and a sealing act (svāhā/oblation).
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