Atharva Veda 1.32.4: Kanda 1, Anuvaka 4, Sukta 32, Mantra 4
Sukta 32
विश्व॑म॒न्याम॑भी॒वार॒ तद॒न्यस्या॒मधि॑श्रि॒तम्। दि॒वे च॑ वि॒श्ववे॑दसे पृथि॒व्यै चा॑करं॒ नमः॑
víśvam anyā́m abhīvā́ra tád anyasyā́m ádhiśritam | divé ca viśvávedase pṛthivyái cā́karaṃ námaḥ ||
The whole have I encompassed, and set that same upon the other as its resting-place. To Heaven, and to the All-knowing, and to Earth have I performed obeisance.
ข้าพเจ้าได้โอบล้อมทั้งปวงไว้ และได้ตั้งสิ่งนี้ไว้เหนืออีกสิ่งหนึ่ง ให้เป็นที่พึ่งพิงของมัน ข้าพเจ้าขอนอบน้อมแด่ฟ้า แด่ผู้รู้ทั่ว (Viśvavedas) และแด่แผ่นดิน
The meaning
What it says
The speaker ritually ‘encompasses the whole’ and sets it upon a stable support; then offers obeisance to Heaven, to the All-knowing (Viśvavedas), and to Earth.
The inner meaning
A psychological act of containment: gather scattered attention (‘the whole’), place it on a firm base (groundedness), and submit the undertaking to higher witnessing intelligence (viśvavedas).
The truth in it
Wholeness is maintained by boundaries and supports. Stability arises when the totality is consciously ‘held’ and aligned with the cosmic frame (Heaven–Earth) and clear knowing.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Paustika (Prosperity/Establishment) / Apotropaic (Protective Encompassing)
Its aim
To ritually encompass and stabilize the ‘whole’ (household/settlement/undertaking), fixing it upon a secure support and placing it under the cosmic guardianship of Heaven–Earth and the all-knowing divine power, thereby averting disruption.
Word by Word
Pada patha
विश्वम् । अन्याम् । अभीवार । तत् । अन्यस्याम् । अधिश्रितम् । दिवे । च । विश्ववेदसे । पृथिव्यै । च । अकरम् । नमः ।
- विश्वम्
- all (the whole)all, the whole (the totality to be encompassed/secured by the rite)Adjective (used substantively)नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot विश्व (प्रातिपदिक) सर्व
- अन्याम्
- another (one)another (fem.; the ‘other’ one—often construed by the tradition as the counterpart/paired power)Adjective/Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- अभीवार
- a covering; an enveloping (as a wrap/veil)I have covered/warded (from √vṛ ‘cover, enclose’; in Atharvanic usage: to enclose protectively, to avert by encircling)Noun (action/result)पुंलिङ्ग (प्रायः), प्रथमा, एकवचन (वाक्ये विधेय/उपपद-रूपेण) अथवा अव्ययीभाव-प्राय प्रयोगRole करण (भावे/उपायार्थे) अथवा विशेषण-भावRoot अभि + √वृ (वृञ् वरणे/वरण-आवरणे) → क्तिन्/कृदन्त-रूप ‘अभीवार’ (आवरण/परिवेष्टन)
- तत्
- thatPronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्म (अन्वयेन) / विषय-निर्देशRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अन्यस्याम्
- in/on another (one)upon/in another (loc. fem.; ‘in the other one’—the second locus/support)Adjective/Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचनRole अधिकरणRoot अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- अधिश्रितम्
- placed upon; resting on; supported onresting upon, supported, established (adhi-√śri; ritually: ‘made to abide’ as a fixed support of efficacy)Participle (verbal adjective)नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मणि-भावः ‘आश्रितम्/निहितम्’Role विधेय (कर्मणि) / कर्म-विशेषणRoot अधि + √श्रि (श्रि॒ञ् सेवायाम्/आश्रये) → क्त (past passive participle)
- दिवे
- to heaven; for the skyto Heaven (dat.; the upper cosmic station invoked as witness and stabilizer)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग (द्यौः), चतुर्थी, एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot दिव् (प्रातिपदिक) ‘द्यौ/दिव्’
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययRoot च
- विश्ववेदसे
- to the all-knowing (one)to the All-knowing/All-possessing (epithet; commonly of Agni or a cosmic knower; here functioning as a comprehensive divine cognizer of rites)Adjective (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी, एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot विश्ववेदस् (प्रातिपदिक) ‘all-knowing’
- पृथिव्यै
- to EarthNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी, एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot पृथिवी (प्रातिपदिक)
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययRoot च
- अकरम्
- I made; I performedI have made/done (aor. of √kṛ; performative completion of the act—‘I hereby effect’)Verbलुङ् (अङ्ग-आगमयुक्तः), उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदRole क्रियाRoot √कृ (कृञ् करणे)
- नमः
- obeisance; homageobeisance, reverential submission (a potent formula of yielding/placation that ‘turns away’ harm and secures favor)Noun (indeclinable-like in usage)नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (नमः-प्रयोगः ‘obeisance’)Role कर्म (अकरम् इत्यस्य) / भावार्थकर्मRoot नमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- विश्वम् | अन्याम् | अभीवार् | तत् | अन्यस्याम् | अधिश्रितम् || दिवे | च | विश्ववेदसे | पृथिव्यै | च | अकरम् | नमः । Sandhi:
- (1) ‘अभी॒वार॒’ = ‘अभि + वार्’ (र्-पर्यन्तः पदः; पदान्त-रेफः मन्त्रपाठे दीर्घस्वरानन्तरं दृश्यते).
- (2) ‘तद॒न्यस्या॒मधि॑श्रि॒तम्’ = ‘तत् + अन्यस्याम् + अधिश्रितम्’
- ‘तत्’ + ‘अन्यस्याम्’ → ‘तदन्यस्याम्’ (त् + अ → द्-अनुस्वाररहित-परिवर्तनः; संहितायां ‘द’).
- (3) ‘दि॒वे च॑’ = ‘दिवे + च’ (सन्ध्यभावः).
- (4) ‘पृथि॒व्यै चा॑करं॒’ = ‘पृथिव्यै + च + अकरम्’
- ‘च + अकरम्’ → ‘चाकरम्’ (अ-आगम-सन्धिः)
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Uncertain from the isolated verse; commonly Atharvanic/Angirasa attribution is hymn-dependent.
- Devata
- Dyāvā-Pṛthivī (Heaven and Earth) with Viśvavedas (often Agni as ‘all-knowing’), functioning as cosmic stabilizers.
- Chandas
- Likely Anuṣṭubh (requires full metrical check; verse appears in two pādas of ~8 syllables each, but accent/sandhi may affect count).
- Rasa
- Shanta and Vira
Sāyaṇa construes the verse as a performative ‘encompassing’ (abhīvāra) and ‘establishing’ (adhiśrita) of the intended totality (viśvam) upon a supporting counterpart (‘the other’), read cosmologically as the mutual support of Dyāvā-Pṛthivī or as paired loci of the rite. ‘Viśvavedas’ is taken as a comprehensive divine knower (often Agni as the knower of all beings/rites), invoked together with Heaven and Earth as the stabilizing frame. ‘Namaḥ’ is not mere courtesy but a pacificatory act that secures the rite’s success by propitiation and averts obstruction.
Unknown (hymn-dependent; verse isolated)
Protective enclosure rites (paridhi/bandhana logic), household stabilization, paustika establishment.
Voice of the Atharvan householder-priest who secures a ‘field of safety’ by ritually enclosing and grounding the undertaking.
Dyāvā-Pṛthivī with Viśvavedas (often Agni as all-knowing)
Heaven and Earth as the two supports of the cosmos; Viśvavedas as the penetrating intelligence/fire that knows and orders the whole.
Stabilizes space and intention; creates a guarded ‘whole’ against disruption, loss, and scattering.
Anuṣṭubh (probable; requires pada-by-pada recensional scan)
Likely 4 pādas; in some recitations it may be delivered as 2 longer half-verses due to syntactic flow.
Atharvanic diction can yield irregular counts through sandhi (e.g., viśvamanyāmabhīvāra).
Declarative, ‘binding’ rhythm—good for circumambulation or marking boundaries.
Induces a sense of closure and completion; supports spatial ritual actions (enclosing, placing, bowing).
The Atharvan priest performs a protective ‘encompassing’ action (pary-āvaraṇa/pari-veṣṭana type): circumambulating the intended locus (person, house, or ritual space) or symbolically enclosing it with a cord/grass line.
While reciting the mantra, he ‘sets’ (adhi-śri) the intended object’s welfare upon a stable support—ritually represented by placing it upon a prepared base (earth/altar spot) or by touching earth and looking upward to heaven as paired supports.
He concludes with a propitiatory gesture at ‘namaḥ’: a bow, lowering of the hands, or a touch to the ground, sealing the apotropaic enclosure.
Kauśika Sūtra: not securely identifiable from the single mantra in isolation (requires the full hymn’s karman assignment in Kauśika’s anukramaṇī/pravara context).
Atharvan/Brahman officiant as stabilizer and averting agent: he enacts enclosure, establishes the support, and seals efficacy through namas (placation).
Recite while walking the perimeter of a home/room/field; or while placing a central support object (post, hearth, altar).
At moving into a new house, before a journey, at the start of a major household rite, or during disturbances.
Householder or Atharvan priest performs circumambulation and final namas gesture.
General use in enclosure/protection rites (paridhi, rakṣā) is plausible; exact Kauśika locus depends on the full hymn’s ritual mapping.
Use as a spoken boundary-setting intention before work; pair with tidying/decluttering to ‘set the whole upon support’.
No material substances named: the ‘substance’ is spatial order itself—boundary, support, and reverent alignment with Heaven–Earth and all-knowing awareness.
Grounding/containment practice for anxiety: ‘encompass the whole’ → cognitive integration; ‘set upon support’ → somatic grounding.
Household, settlement space, ritual arena, or an undertaking (journey, trade, building).
Enclose and stabilize the totality (home/rite/enterprise), placing it on a secure base and under cosmic guardianship.
Ritual encompassing (pary-āvaraṇa) + ‘placing’ (adhi-śraya) + homage to cosmic supports.
Disruption, loss, scattering, inauspicious intrusion.
Household stability, successful completion, secure dwelling.
- विश्वम् (viśvam)
- total situation/household; integrated self
- अभीवार (abhīvāra)
- protective enclosure; ritual boundary
- अधिश्रितम् (adhiśritam)
- grounding; establishing on dharma/firm base
- दिवे (dive)
- higher order, aspiration, blessing-from-above
- पृथिव्यै (pṛthivyai)
- foundation, fertility, steadiness
- विश्ववेदसे (viśvavedase)
- omniscient fire/insight; witness-consciousness
- नमः (namaḥ)
- humility that harmonizes forces
Containment and grounding: gather attention as ‘the whole’ and rest it on the earth-breath axis.
mūlādhāra (support) and sahasrāra/ākāśa (heaven) as a vertical alignment
Box breathing (4-4-4-4) while visualizing a protective circle; end with a bow on the exhale at ‘namaḥ’.
Centered, bounded, and reverent.
Stand, feel feet (Pṛthivī), sense crown-space (Dyaus), kindle inner knowing (Viśvavedas) at the heart/solar plexus, then mentally trace a circle around your body-field.
Recite with clear udātta lifts on marked syllables (if using accented text); otherwise keep a steady, declarative tone with a slight cadence drop at ‘namaḥ’.
Maintain separation of compounds in articulation: viśvam | anyām | abhīvāra.
Firm but calm; ‘boundary-setting’ voice.
Most effective when synchronized with action: one recitation per quarter-turn while encircling, finishing with namas facing east.
3 times
Starting a new project, moving homes, feeling scattered or unsafe, needing ‘containment’ for family space.
Before leaving home; before sleep to ‘encompass’ the day; during house cleansing/threshold protection.
Sense of stability, reduced mental scattering, improved follow-through and household calm.
If anxiety is severe, combine with professional support; avoid using boundary-setting to intensify social isolation.
No explicit botanical or materia-medica term occurs in this verse. Its efficacy is ‘architectonic’ rather than pharmacological: the mantra works by verbal enclosure (abhīvāra) and cosmic anchoring (adhiśrita) rather than by transferring power through an herb/amulet. In practice, such verses are often paired with a physical enclosing medium (cord, darbha line, or boundary-marking), but that medium is not named here.
The speaker’s first-person performatives (“I have encompassed… I have done obeisance”) presuppose a ritual specialist authorized to ‘do’ cosmic-scale stabilizations through speech-act. The cosmos (Heaven/Earth) is addressed as a legitimating frame, implying that household or community security is mediated through priestly technique rather than purely communal action—an index of Atharvanic ritual expertise as a social technology.
The diction is broadly Vedic, but the Atharvanic tendency is toward pragmatic performatives and technical verbs of ritual action (cover/enclose; establish/support). The compound/epithet viśvavedas is Rigvedic as well (notably of Agni), yet here it functions less as hymn-praise and more as a juridical ‘cosmic witness/knower’ guaranteeing the rite—an Atharvanic shift toward operational semantics.
The Gopatha Brāhmaṇa characteristically grounds Atharvanic efficacy in correct application (yukti) and in the priest’s capacity to ‘bind’ and ‘release’ through mantra as a real force. While a specific Gopatha passage cannot be cited without the hymn’s broader identification, the verse’s logic matches Gopatha’s recurrent theme: cosmic supports (dyāvā-pṛthivī) and the all-knowing divine principle validate and stabilize domestic rites when the mantra is properly ‘set’ (adhiśrita) and sealed by namas.
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