Atharva Veda 5.14.3: Kanda 5, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 14, Mantra 3
Sukta 14
रिश्य॑स्येव परीशा॒सं प॑रि॒कृत्य॒ परि॑ त्व॒चः । कृ॒त्यां कृ॑त्या॒कृते॑ देवा नि॒ष्कमि॑व॒ प्रति॑ मुञ्चत
riśyásyeva parīśā́sāṃ parikṛ́tya pári tvácaḥ | kṛtyā́ṃ kṛtyā́kṛte devā níṣkam iva práti muñcata
As one would strip the antelope’s hide, so strip it off from the skin: the Kṛtyā—O Gods—release it back unto the Kṛtyā-maker, as one returns a niṣka-ornament.
రిష్య (మృగం) చర్మాన్ని ఒలిచినట్లే, దీనిని కూడా చర్మం నుండి వేరుచేసి ఒలిచివేయండి. ఓ దేవులారా, ఈ కృత్యాను—కృత్యా చేసినవాడికే—నిష్క (ఆభరణం) తిరిగి ఇచ్చినట్లుగా తిరిగి అతనికే విడిపించి అప్పగించండి.
The meaning
What it says
The afflicting kṛtyā (worked sorcery) is peeled off the victim’s skin like stripping an antelope hide; the gods are asked to “unfasten” it and return it to the sorcerer like handing back a niṣka ornament.
The inner meaning
Psychic contamination is treated as an adherent layer on the self (tvac). By imagining a clean separation (parikṛtya) and rightful return (prati muñcata), the victim regains boundaries and agency; the aggressor is made to own the projection.
The truth in it
Harmful intentions and manipulations ultimately revert to their source when truth, boundaries, and communal/cosmic order are invoked; what is not truly ‘yours’ can be detached and returned.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Abhicarika (Counter-sorcery; reversal/return of kṛtyā)
Its aim
To detach kṛtyā from the victim’s body and return it to the sorcerer, enforcing a rebound of harm.
Word by Word
Pada patha
रिश्यस्य-इव । परी-शासम् । परि-कृत्य । परि । त्वचः । कृत्याम् । कृत्या-कृते । देवाः । निष्कम्-इव । प्रति । मुञ्चत
- ऋष्यस्य
- of the antelope (ṛṣya)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी-एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (Genitive relation)Root ऋष्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- इव
- like, asIndeclinableअव्ययRole उपमान (comparative marker)Root इव
- परीशासम्
- the sheath/skin-covering (outer hide)a stripping/peeling, a flaying-off (removal as of a hide/covering)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचनRole कर्म (object)Root परीशास (प्रातिपदिक)
- परि
- aroundIndeclinable (Preverb) / Adverbउपसर्ग/अव्ययRole क्रियाविशेषण (direction: around)Root परि
- कृत्वा
- having made, having doneVerb (Absolutive)क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (absolutive), ‘having done/made’Role पूर्वकाल (prior action to main verb)Root कृ (धातु)
- परि
- aroundIndeclinable (Preverb) / Adverbउपसर्ग/अव्ययRole क्रियाविशेषण (around)Root परि
- त्वचः
- of the skinfrom the skin (the victim’s bodily surface as locus of attachment)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; षष्ठी-एकवचन (Vedic form; also analyzable as abl./gen. sg. depending on padapāṭha tradition)Role सम्बन्ध (Genitive relation)Root त्वच् (प्रातिपदिक)
- कृत्याम्
- the witchcraft/evil spellthe kṛtyā (manufactured witchcraft; an afflicting entity)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचनRole कर्म (object)Root कृत्या (प्रातिपदिक)
- कृत्या
- by (counter-)witchcraft; with witchcraftNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; तृतीया-एकवचनRole करण (instrument/means)Root कृत्या (प्रातिपदिक)
- कृते
- in/for the deed done (i.e., when the spell has been made)Participle (PPP) used substantivelyसप्तमी-एकवचन (नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग according to contextual substantivization); ‘in/for the done (act)’Role अधिकरण (locative: in the case/act)Root कृ (धातु) → कृत (कृदन्त)
- देवाः
- O gods / the godsO gods (invoked as guarantors/enforcers of reversal)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-बहुवचनRole कर्तृ (subject)Root देव (प्रातिपदिक)
- निष्कम्
- a neck-ornament/amulet (niṣka)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचनRole कर्म (object of comparison)Root निष्क (प्रातिपदिक)
- इव
- likeIndeclinableअव्ययRole उपमान (comparative marker)Root इव
- प्रति
- back, in return; towardsback, in return (rebound principle)Indeclinable (Preverb) / Adverbउपसर्ग/अव्ययRole क्रियाविशेषण (towards/back)Root प्रति
- मुञ्चत
- release, loosen, set freerelease, let go, send off (detach and dispatch)Verbलोट् (imperative); मध्यम-पुरुष; बहुवचन; परस्मैपदRole क्रिया (injunction addressed to देवाः)Root मुच् (धातु)
Sandhi Notes
- ऋष्यस्येव → ऋष्यस्य + इव
- परीशासं → परीशासम् (acc. sg.)
- परीशासं प॑रि॒कृत्य॒ → परीशासम् + परि + कृत्वा (Vedic: parikṛtya = parikṛtvā)
- परि त्वचः kept as परि + त्वचः
- कृ॒त्यां कृ॑त्या॒कृते॑ → कृत्याम् + कृत्या + कृते
- नि॒ष्कमि॑व → निष्कम् + इव. The sequence ‘प्रति मुञ्चत’ is preverb + imperative of मुच्
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic seer (per Anukramaṇī tradition for AV 5.14)
- Devata
- Devas collectively as enforcers; kṛtyā as the operative object
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Raudra and Vira
Sāyaṇa takes the imagery as a technical metaphor: kṛtyā clings to the victim like a covering; it must be ‘peeled’ away by encircling and cutting-off gestures. ‘Niṣka’ is explained as a detachable ornament/amulet, supporting the idea of removal and restitution; ‘prati’ marks the ethical-ritual reversal—send the affliction back to its sender.
Atharvanic seer
Counter-sorcery (kṛtyā-pratiharaṇa), protective unbinding, ritual reversal through transfer-imagery and ‘return-to-sender’ logic.
Embodies the Atharvan stance that hostile magic is not met merely with fear but with skilled disentangling, restitution, and re-establishment of ṛta through divine enforcement.
Devas (collective) as enforcers; Kṛtyā as operative force
The gods act as guarantors of moral-ritual economy: they detach illegitimate affliction and restore it to its author, maintaining social and cosmic balance.
Removes adherent affliction from the body-boundary (skin) by divine ‘unfastening’ and separation.
Creates a protective perimeter by reversing hostile intent and preventing re-attachment.
4 pādas of ~8 syllables (Atharvanic anuṣṭubh with pragmatic cadence for ritual commands)
Slightly mantraic/operative phrasing; imperative weight in final pāda supports ritual ‘release’ action.
Clipped, directive, with a tactile ‘stripping’ rhythm (pari…pari…prati…).
Supports visualization of removal and return; the repeated preverbs create a sense of encircling, cutting loose, and sending back.
The priest performs a circumambulating/encircling motion around the client (or around the affected limb), miming ‘parikṛtya pári’.
A stripping gesture is made along the body surface (head-to-foot or outward from the heart), as if peeling off a hide.
The removed ‘kṛtyā’ is symbolically transferred into a carrier (herb-bundle, cord, or small object) and then cast away toward the direction associated with the adversary or into a liminal disposal site.
The ‘return’ is verbally sealed with ‘prati muñcata’, emphasizing rebound to the kṛtyākṛt.
Kauśika Sūtra: kṛtyā-apakarṣaṇa / parimārjana-type actions with AV 5.14 (edition-dependent numbering)
Atharvan priest as exorcist and juridical agent: he ‘detaches’ the affliction and ritually redirects it to its source.
Recited while performing a symbolic ‘stripping’ gesture around the patient’s body/skin or over an object/amulet that will carry away the affliction.
At first signs of bewitchment/misfortune; often at liminal times (dusk/dawn) in Atharvan practice.
Atharvan specialist or knowledgeable householder; emphasizes correct intention and controlled speech.
Kauśika Sūtra: kṛtyā-pratiharaṇa / abhicarika counter-charm sections
Used as a protective prayer with a boundary-setting visualization; may accompany tying a protective thread/amulet.
Niṣka (ornament/amulet as metaphor of detachable attachment); Skin (tvac) as surface of affliction; Encircling/stripping action (parikṛtya, pari)
niṣka (ornament/amulet metaphor)
The niṣka models detachable attachment: what is hung upon someone can be unhooked and handed back. Skin/hide imagery frames kṛtyā as an outer layer—removable without harming the person’s essence.
Not a biomedical disease; affliction attributed to kṛtyā (bewitchment), often experienced as wasting, anxiety, skin/limb discomfort, or misfortune.
Skin (tvac)
Apotropaic extraction: detach the ‘stuck’ force from the body boundary (tvac) and ritually transfer it back to its maker under divine authority.
Closest to bhūta/āgantuka upadrava frameworks (externally caused afflictions) and rakṣoghna measures; also resonates with doṣa-aggravation attributed to fear/curse.
Psychosomatic stress from perceived malice/harassment; boundary-violation trauma; ritual as structured cognitive-behavioral ‘reframing’ and social protection.
Kṛtyā-maker (the hostile agent)
Counter-sorcery: peel off the kṛtyā from the victim and return it to the sorcerer, preventing further adhesion.
Reversal/return (prati), transfer by analogy (niṣka return), and extraction imagery (flaying/stripping) under divine enforcement.
Bewitchment, curse-attachment, hostile ritual aggression
- कृत्या (kṛtyā)
- externalized malice; engineered misfortune that can be transferred/returned
- कृत्याकृते (kṛtyā-kṛte)
- the true locus of harm; karmic ownership
- त्वच् (tvac)
- boundary of self; psychosomatic surface where fear/curse ‘sticks’
- परि-कृत्य (pari-kṛtya)
- ritual ‘unbinding’ and boundary-restoration
- रिश्य (riśya)
- clean flaying = precise separation; removing an imposed layer without injuring the core
- निष्क (niṣka)
- detachable attachment; something returned to its owner; charm-logic of transfer
- प्रति मुञ्चत (prati muñcata)
- reversal (pratiprasava) and rebound of sorcery
Boundary purification: discern what is ‘mine’ vs. imposed; release foreign negativity back to its origin without hatred.
Manipura (agency/protection) and Ajna (discernment)
Exhale-focused release (long rechaka) synchronized with ‘prati muñcata’ भावना.
Imagine a thin dark film lifting from the skin and snapping off like an ornament unclasped, then moving away from you toward its source.
Firm, vigilant clarity (rakṣā-bhāva)
Maintain ethical restraint: the mantra frames return/restoration, not gratuitous harm. Pair with daily protective resolve and truthful speech (satya-vāc).
Maintain retroflex in kṛtyā (कृत्या) and clear cluster in kṛtyākṛte (कृत्याकृते).; Differentiate tvac (त्वच्) from tva-; keep ‘c’ crisp (palatal).; niṣkam: keep ṣ (ष) retroflex and avoid inserting extra vowel between ṣk.
Atharvanic recitation with clear udātta emphasis on operative verbs/preverbs (pari-, prati-); keep cadence even across four pādas.
Lean stress on ‘parikṛtya’, ‘tvacaḥ’, and final ‘prati muñcata’ as the performative release.
Firm, controlled, slightly forceful on the final command; avoid frantic speed.
Coordinate with a physical gesture of ‘unfastening/peeling’ and a decisive outward motion on ‘prati’ to mark return.
21 times
Feeling targeted by malice, envy, or ‘worked’ negativity; recurring misfortune with a sense of external imposition.
After cleansing (bath) or before sleep; also before entering contentious spaces.
Sense of protection, restored boundaries, reduction of fear and intrusive rumination; traditional aim: detachment and rebound of hostile kṛtyā.
Do not use to justify paranoia or retaliatory obsession; if severe anxiety/illness persists, seek medical/mental-health support alongside spiritual practice.
Even when the herb is not named in the verse, the rite presumes a material carrier for transfer. The mantra supplies the conceptual mechanics—adhesion to skin, stripping, and return—while the substance (herb/amulet) provides a medium to ‘hold’ and dispose the extracted kṛtyā.
The rebound model presupposes social suspicion and covert aggression; the priest’s performance converts private fear into a public-ritual resolution, implicitly authorizing retaliation through cosmic justice rather than direct violence.
The concrete body-surface language (tvac) and technical verbs of removal (muñc-) align with AV’s pragmatic ritual idiom. The simile with niṣka reflects material culture and domestic ritual objects more than RV’s sacrificial grand style.
Gopatha’s emphasis on Atharvanic rites as protective technologies supports the logic of ‘transfer and return’: the mantra is efficacious because it correctly names the process (detachment) and destination (kṛtyākṛt) under divine sanction.
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