Atharva Veda 2.16.5: Kanda 2, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 16, Mantra 5
Sukta 16
विश्वं॑भर॒ विश्वे॑न मा॒ भर॑सा पाहि॒ स्वाहा॑
viśváṃbhará víśvena mā́ bhárasā pāhi svā́hā
O All-upholding One, with thy universal might, by thy sustaining power do thou protect me—svāhā.
โอ วิศวัมภระ (Viśvambhara) ผู้ทรงค้ำจุนสรรพสิ่ง ขอท่านจงคุ้มครองข้าพเจ้าด้วยฤทธานุภาพอันครอบคลุมทั่ว และด้วยพลังอันเกื้อหนุนของท่าน—สวาหา (svāhā).
The meaning
What it says
An appeal to Viśvambhara, the ‘All-upholding’ power: “With your universal might/sustaining force protect me,” sealed by svāhā.
The inner meaning
Invokes the inner capacity to be carried when one feels unsupported. ‘Viśvena bharasā’ becomes psychological resilience: the sense that life itself bears you when personal strength is low.
The truth in it
Sustenance is not merely personal effort; there is an underlying support in reality. Aligning with it restores steadiness and protection.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Bhaisajya (Healing) / Rakṣā (Apotropaic protection)
Its aim
General protection of the beneficiary from harm (disease, hostile beings, and ill-luck) by invoking a universal sustaining power.
Word by Word
Pada patha
विश्वं-भर । विश्वे॑न । मा । भर॑सा । पाहि । स्वाहा॑ ।
- विश्वंभऱ
- O all-sustaining oneNoun/Adjective (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-एकवचनRole — (सम्बोधन)Root विश्वंभर (प्रातिपदिक; विśvaṃ-bhara)
- विश्वेन
- with/through the whole (all)with the all; with the whole (i.e., with totality/entire power, ‘with everything’ as an instrument of protection)Adjective/Pronoun-like (sarva)नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-एकवचनRole KaraṇaRoot विश्व (सर्व/विशेषण-प्रातिपदिक)
- मा
- mePronounद्वितीया-एकवचन (enclitic)Role KarmaRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- भरसा
- by (your) support/strengthby (thy) bearing/support; by sustaining force (instrumental of ‘bearing’ used as a magical ‘supporting’ potency)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-एकवचनRole KaraṇaRoot भरस् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘bearing/support’)
- पाहि
- protectprotect, guard, preserve (apotropaic imperative; keep harm away)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole क्रियाRoot पा (धातु) ‘to protect’
- स्वाहा
- svāhā (oblational exclamation)svāhā (oblation-call sealing the mantra’s efficacy; marks offering/consummation of the act)Indeclinableअव्यय (यज्ञीय-उद्गार)Root स्वाहा (निपात/उद्गार)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (resolved): विश्वंभऱ | विश्वेन | मा | भरसा | पाहि | स्वाहा।
- 1) ‘विश्वं॑भर॒’ is a vocative singular of the epithet विश्वंभर ‘all-sustaining’.
- 2) ‘विश्वे॑न’ (instr. sg. n.) and ‘भर॑सा’ (instr. sg. n.) function as instrumental means (karaṇa) with the imperative ‘पाहि’.
- 3) No external sandhi requiring further splitting
- Vedic accents retained in saṃhitā text
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition (specific r̥ṣi attribution varies by anukramaṇī for this hymn)
- Devata
- Viśvambhara (a sustaining protective power; often treated as a functional epithet rather than a narrowly personified deity)
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh-like cadence (short protective formula; exact metrical classification may be listed as anuṣṭubh in anukramaṇī traditions)
- Rasa
- Shanta and Vira
Sāyaṇa takes viśvambhara as ‘he who bears/sustains all’ and reads the verse as a compact rakṣā-mantra: the deity/power is asked to ‘bear’ (i.e., uphold) the sacrificer/patient so that hostile forces cannot seize him. The instrumental bhárasā is glossed as the effective sustaining agency (dhāraṇa-śakti) by which protection is accomplished; svāhā indicates the mantra’s employment with an offering or as a sealing exclamation in a domestic rite.
Unknown/Anukramaṇī-dependent (Atharvanic protective-healing stratum)
Bhaisajya-rakṣā synthesis: protection framed as sustaining power (dhāraṇa/bharaṇa) rather than mere repulsion.
Shows an Atharvan move from ‘fight the threat’ to ‘strengthen the support’: health as being ‘borne’ by cosmic/ritual power.
Viśvambhara
Personifies the sustaining substrate that upholds beings and worlds; functionally close to ‘dhātr̥’/supporting powers.
Strengthening, restorative—supports convalescence by invoking ‘carrying capacity’ and stabilization.
Guards by maintaining wholeness and preventing breakdown; counters forces of dispersal, depletion, and intrusion.
Two compact cola with internal alliteration (viśva-… bhara-…) + svāhā seal.
Sound-symbolism (viśva/bhara) is foregrounded; metrical regularity is secondary to phonetic ‘support’ effect.
Weighty, carrying cadence; repeated viśva- creates breadth; bhara- creates ‘bearing’ feel.
Somatic sense of being supported; steadies breath and posture.
Prepare a protective setting (rakṣā): the beneficiary sits facing east; the Atharvan priest establishes a small domestic fire if an offering is intended.
Recite the mantra once (or thrice) over the beneficiary, synchronizing ‘pāhi’ with a protective gesture (hand passed over head/heart).
If performed as a homa: offer a small oblation (ghee or suitable domestic offering) at the utterance of svāhā.
Conclude by touching the beneficiary (or a protective cord/amulet if used in the larger rite) to ‘fix’ the protection.
Kauśika Sūtra: general rakṣā/bhaiṣajya employment of AV 2.16 mantras (exact sūtra number requires the practitioner’s Kauśika edition cross-index for AV 2.16).
Atharvan/Brahman as rakṣākṛt: reciter who ‘binds’ protection through mantra-recitation, optionally performing a small homa at svāhā.
Recite over food before feeding a convalescent; or with a small ājyāhuti if a lamp/fire is maintained; can be spoken while placing a supportive hand on the chest/upper back.
During recovery periods; before meals; at times of fatigue.
Householder or family elder; an Atharvan practitioner may integrate into a br̥ṃhaṇa-style home healing sequence.
Use as a pre-meal intention for rebuilding strength; pair with rest and gentle movement.
Oblation (implied by svāhā); Protective ‘support’ (bhara-/dhāraṇa) as an abstract ritual potency
Though no herb is named, the semantics are nutritive: bhara/bharaṇa implies feeding, carrying, sustaining—ritually mirrored by offering (āhuti) and practically by nourishment.
General debility, depletion, convalescence, and non-specific afflictions framed as ‘loss of support’ (weakness, faintness).
Invokes sustaining power to restore strength and coherence; protective maintenance against relapse.
Br̥ṃhaṇa (nourishing) orientation; supportive for vāta depletion and post-illness weakness (dhātu-kṣaya patterns).
Recovery affirmation supporting resilience; adjunct to rehabilitation, nutrition, and rest.
Self/patient.
Protect by strengthening the beneficiary’s sustaining force; prevent harm by restoring support and wholeness.
Name-epithet invocation (functional deity); phonetic reinforcement through viśva-/bhara- repetition; svāhā sealing.
Wasting, weakness, recurrent illness, destabilizing influences.
Longevity/strength (āyuḥ-bala) as a protective prosperity.
- विश्वंभर (viśvambhara)
- Universal support, resilience, the ground of being that carries life
- विश्वेन (viśvena)
- Total-force invocation; nothing is excluded from the protective field
- भरसा (bharasā)
- Carrying capacity, dhāraṇa; the ability to sustain health and order
- पाहि (pāhi)
- Maintenance-protection (not only defense, but sustenance)
Sense the ‘support beneath experience’—the mind rests on an underlying steadiness (bharaṇa).
Maṇipūra (strength) with Muladhara (support) as a combined focus.
Lengthen exhale slightly (e.g., 4 in / 6 out) to evoke ‘bearing’ and stability.
A golden pillar rising through the spine, holding a canopy of light; the body feels carried from within.
Stable, supported, quietly empowered.
Chant 9 times; then sit upright and feel the spine as ‘support’. End with a practical act of nourishment (water/food) mindfully.
viśvaṃbhara: pronounce ṃbh as a conjunct (nasal + bh) without inserting extra vowel.; bharasā: keep short a in bhara-, long ā at end.; Keep ś in viśva as palatal ‘ś’, not retroflex ṣ.
Maintain clear stress on the repeated viśva- syllables; let bhara- be weighty; svāhā as a firm seal.
Avoid slurring viśvaṃbhara—articulate nasal ṃ and aspirated bh. Land on bharasā distinctly.
Low, steady, ‘supportive’ tone; slight downward cadence before svāhā.
This is a ‘maintenance-protection’ charm: chant it when strengthening is needed, not only when danger is felt.
9 times
Post-illness weakness, burnout, feeling unsupported, needing steady protection.
Before meals, during convalescence, before sleep when fatigue is high.
Sense of support and resilience; calmer nervous system; steadier recovery mindset.
If weakness is medical, use alongside appropriate clinical care and nutrition.
No explicit plant is named in this verse; the operative ‘substance’ is the sustaining force (bhárasā) and the oblation implied by svāhā. In Atharvanic therapeutics, such abstract ‘support’ language often functions as a verbal analogue to a physical support (amulet, cord, or protective touch), allowing the rite to be performed with or without a specific herb.
The beneficiary is grammatically passive (‘protect me’), while efficacy is mediated by an Atharvan specialist who knows the correct formula and its svāhā-sealing. This reflects a ritual economy in which protection and healing are secured through expert-controlled speech acts, reinforcing priestly authority in domestic crisis-management (illness, danger, misfortune).
The diction is compact and formulaic, typical of Atharvanic rakṣā-mantras. The use of an epithet-like compound viśváṃbhara as the primary address and the instrumental bhárasā (‘by bearing/support’) foregrounds functional power over mythic narrative—an Atharvanic tendency relative to many Ṛgvedic hymns. The svāhā closure aligns with ritualized, performative speech typical of later Vedic liturgical usage.
The Gopatha Brāhmaṇa generally frames Atharvanic mantras as efficacious through correct knowledge (vidyā), correct application (prayoga), and the binding force of brahman (sacred formulation). A verse like this is contextualized as a rakṣā-formula whose power lies in naming and activating a sustaining cosmic function (‘all-bearer’) and sealing it through svāhā/rite, rather than through extended mythic exempla.
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