Atharva Veda 13.2.40: Kanda 13, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 2, Mantra 40
Sukta 2
रोहि॑तो लो॒को अ॑भव॒द् रोहि॒तोऽत्य॑तप॒द् दिव॑म्। रोहि॑तो र॒श्मिभि॒र्भूमिं॑ समु॒द्रमनु॒ सं च॑रत्
róhito lokó abhavad róhito’ty atapat dívam | róhito raśmíbhir bhū́miṃ samudrám ánu sám carat
Rohita became the world; Rohita heated, yea, over-heated heaven. Rohita with his rays traversed the earth, and along the ocean moved in full course.
โรหิตะ (Rohita) กลายเป็นโลก; โรหิตะเผาให้ร้อน—ยิ่งกว่าร้อน—แก่สวรรค์. โรหิตะด้วยรัศมีของตนท่องไปทั่วแผ่นดิน และเคลื่อนไปตามมหาสมุทรอย่างเต็มครรลอง.
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (Rohita complex)
Devata: Rohita (solar-red), implicitly Sūrya
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (largely)
Primary: adbhuta
Secondary: vira
Sāyaṇa emphasizes Rohita’s tapas (heat) as creative and sustaining; ‘raśmi’ are both physical rays and binding lines that pervade and secure the world. The earth–ocean circuit expresses totality: Rohita’s movement is the maintenance of cosmic order and, by extension, the maintenance of life.
Invoking Rohita’s pervasion to secure comprehensive protection and vitality across the client’s ‘world’
Paustika energizing: invokes warmth, circulation, and pervasion as metaphors for robust life-force.
Supports imagery of increasing tejas and maintaining prāṇa-vyāna circulation; balancing kapha-stagnation conceptually.
Motivational/activation practice; somatic warming and circulation focus (e.g., gentle movement + breath) framed ritually.
paustika
Household space and the patron’s life-field
Comprehensive vitality and protection across the client’s ‘world’ (home/body/life-sphere).
Pervasion spell: naming cosmic traversal (rays across earth/ocean) to ritually ‘map’ protection onto space.
Diminution of vitality, unseen threats, ‘gaps’ in protection across domains
General flourishing, safe movement/travel, stable household sphere
Rohita becomes the world (loka), heats heaven intensely, and with rays traverses earth and moves along the ocean in full course.
The inner sun of awareness pervades all domains of experience—thought (heaven), embodiment (earth), and depth/emotion (ocean). ‘Over-heating’ signals transformative intensity: illumination that burns away lethargy and obscurity.
Pervasive vitality sustains worlds; when the luminous principle circulates unobstructed, the whole field of life is energized and protected.
- लोक (lóka)
- one’s lived field—home, body, mind-sphere
- अति अतपत् (áti atapat)
- purification through intensity; tapas that transforms
- दिवम् (dívam)
- higher mind, ideals, clarity
- रश्मि (raśmí)
- channels of influence; prāṇa-currents; guiding lines of order
- भूमि (bhū́mi)
- body, stability, material life
- समुद्र (samudrá)
- depth of emotion/unconscious; vast collective forces
- सम् चरति (saṃ carati)
- unbroken circulation; comprehensive coverage/protection
Visualize rays pervading the full body and the home, linking sky (head), earth (feet), ocean (belly/heart depth).
maṇipūra (heat) and ājñā (illumination)
Slow inhalation imagining rays entering; longer exhalation spreading them through limbs (vyāna imagery).
Golden-red rays moving through nāḍīs like warm threads, reaching extremities and ‘shorelines’ of the body.
Bright, expansive, alert.
Chant while standing in sunlight if possible; after the last pāda, hold a brief stillness sensing warmth in the spine and chest.
Maintain even anuṣṭubh pacing; emphasize verbs of power (atapat, saṃ carat).
Keep ‘rohi̱to ra̱śmibhi̱ḥ’ crisp; do not swallow visarga in raśmibhiḥ before bhūmim.
Cluster in ’tyatapat: pronounce as atí-a-tapat with clear dental t’s., raśmibhiḥ: ś as palatal fricative; final ḥ lightly audible., samudram anu: keep anu separate, not ‘anusa’.
Bright, projecting, as if ‘sending rays’.
If used for space-protection, pair recitation with clockwise circumambulation to embody ‘saṃ carat’.
When entering a new environment, before travel, or when the home feels ‘heavy’/stagnant.
Morning; or immediately before stepping out for important work.
A felt increase of vitality, clarity, and a sense of comprehensive protection.
If practicing in direct sun, avoid overheating/heat illness; keep it gentle for pitta-aggravated individuals.
पदच्छेदः: रोहितः लोकः अभवत् | रोहितः अति अतपतत् दिवम् | रोहितः रश्मिभिः भूमिम् समुद्रम् अनु सम् अचरत् । प्रमुख सन्धि: (1) रोहितो लोको = रोहितः लोकः (विसर्ग-लोपः, ओ-आदेशः) (2) रोहितोऽत्यतपद् = रोहितः अति अतपतत् (विसर्गः + अ → ’; अति + अतपतत् → अत्यतपतत्) (3) रश्मिभिर्भूमिं = रश्मिभिः भूमिम् (विसर्ग-सन्धि: ः + भ → र् + भ; तथा म् + भ → म्भ्) (4) समुद्रमनु = समुद्रम् अनु (म् + अ → म) (5) सं चरत् = सम् अचरत् (उपसर्ग ‘सम्’ + अचरत्; पाठे ‘सं’ रूप, नासिक्य-सन्धि).
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