Atharva Veda 20.71.3: Kanda 20, Anuvaka 8, Sukta 71, Mantra 3
Sukta 71
यः कु॒क्षिः सो॑म॒पात॑मः समु॒द्र इ॑व॒ पिन्व॑ते । उ॒र्वीरापो॒ न का॒कुदः॑
yáḥ kukṣíḥ sómapātamaḥ samudrá iva pínvate | urvī́r ā́po ná kākúdaḥ
He whose belly, the most Soma-drinking, swelleth like the ocean—broad waters, as it were, a rising crest—
ท้องของเขา—ผู้ดื่มโสมะ (Soma) ยิ่งกว่าผู้ใด—พองเต็มดุจมหาสมุทร; ประหนึ่งสายน้ำกว้างใหญ่ ดุจสันคลื่นที่ผุดสูง—
The meaning
What it says
Indra’s soma-drinking belly swells like the ocean; his potency rises like a broad wave-crest.
The inner meaning
An image of regulated expansion: vitality, confidence, and capacity increase when ‘fed’ by right nourishment (soma = refined energy) without spilling into excess.
The truth in it
Power becomes beneficent when it is replenished from sacred sources and held like an ocean—vast, containing, and sustaining life rather than flooding it.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Paustika (Strength/Abundance) with soma-energized Indra
Its aim
To invoke Indra’s soma-swollen abundance as transferable strength and plenitude for the patron/household.
Word by Word
Pada patha
यः । कु॒क्षिः । सो॑म॒पात॑मः । स॒मु॒द्रः । इ॒व॒ । पिन्व॑ते । उ॒र्वीः । आपः । न । का॒कुदः॑
- यः
- who (he who)who; he whose (relative pronoun, pointing to Indra’s attribute)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → य-
- कुक्षिः
- belly; womb; cavitybelly; womb-like interior (seat of capacity; metaphor for vast receptacle of soma)Nounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot कुक्षि (प्रातिपदिक)
- सः
- he; thatPronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- सोमपातमः
- the best (most eminent) Soma-drinkermost a Soma-drinker (Indra as supreme consumer of soma; soma-intoxication as source of victorious power)Adjective (superlative epithet)पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot सोमपातम (प्रातिपदिक; सोम + पा(पिबति) + तम (तमप्-प्रत्ययः))
- समुद्रः
- ocean; seaNounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot समुद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- इव
- like; asIndeclinableअव्ययम्Root इव (निपात)
- पिन्वते
- swells; becomes full; is made to surgeswells; is filled; grows strong (becomes charged with power through soma)Verbलट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Root पिव्/पिन्व् (धातु; पिन्वति = to swell, to make abound; to set in motion)
- उर्वीः
- broad; wide (ones)broad; wide (spacious, abundant)Adjective (used substantively)स्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot उर्वी (प्रातिपदिक)
- आपः
- watersNounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot अप् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘water’)
- न
- like; asIndeclinableअव्ययम्Root न (निपात)
- काकुदः
- peak; summit; hump/ridge (as a prominent height)peak; summit; projecting height (image of rising, eminent strength; also ‘crest’ of abundance)Nounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot काकुद (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- यः | कुक्षिः | सः | सोमपातमः | समुद्रः | इव | पिन्वते | उर्वीः | आपः | न | काकुदः ।
- 1) ‘सोम॒पात॑मः’ = सोम + पा (पानार्थक-धातु) + तम (तमप्) → ‘सोमपातम’ (श्रेष्ठः सोमपाता) ।
- 2) ‘उर्वीरापो’ = उर्वीः + आपः (विसर्ग-लोपः/सन्धिः) → उर्वीरापः ।
- 3) ‘का॒कुदः’ स्वतंत्रः प्रथमा-एकवचनः
- ‘न’ उपमानार्थे (यथा) ।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Ṛgvedic provenance (as transmitted in AV 20).
- Devata
- Indra (Soma-drinker)
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh/related (per RV source tradition)
- Rasa
- Adbhuta and Vira
Sāyaṇa reads kukṣi as udarākhya ādhāra (the receptacle), ‘somapātama’ as ativiśeṣeṇa soma-pātṛ (Indra par excellence). ‘pinvate’ = vardhate/pūryate (is filled, grows). The ocean and waters imagery underscores inexhaustibility and the surge of Indra’s energized might.
Unknown (RV-derived; requires RV concordance for exact seer of the source verse)
Indra-stuti in Triṣṭubh style; praise-poetry emphasizing soma-fed strength and abundance transferable to patrons.
The seer’s voice functions as ‘vāc-as-medicine’: by amplifying Indra’s fullness, the household imagines and attracts fullness (pūrṇatā) into its own body and storehouse.
Indra
Receiver of soma, breaker of constraints, distributor of rain/wealth/strength; archetype of energized sovereignty.
Restores depleted vitality (ojas-like imagery) by ‘filling’ and strengthening; supports convalescence through renewed appetite/inner fullness (metaphoric).
Wards off poverty and weakness; stabilizes the household’s ‘reservoir’ against draining forces.
Triṣṭubh (RV-style; Atharvanic recitation retains RV cadence)
4 pādas of ~11 syllables (with possible resolution/contracted syllables typical of RV transmission)
Minor sandhi/phonetic variants possible in AVŚ 20 compared to RV; performance often less strictly ‘sung’ than Sāman but rhythmically steady.
Expansive, wave-like; suited to imagery of swelling and oceanic fullness.
Builds a sense of rising capacity and confidence; good for ‘invoking plenitude’ before meals, work, or offering.
Prepare a water vessel (āpaḥ) as a ritual proxy for ‘broad waters’ (optional but congruent with imagery).
Recite the mantra over the water, visualizing Indra’s swelling power.
Sprinkle (prokṣaṇa) the patron or threshold with the charged water to ‘transfer’ abundance and protection.
Dispose of remaining water to the east/north as auspicious directionality.
Kauśika Sūtra: strength/prosperity rites where Indra-soma praise is recited; AV 20 stotra material may be appended to domestic performances as bala-ādhāna (strength-installation).
Atharvan as consecrator of water (āpaḥ) through mantra, converting metaphor into ritual medium.
Recite as a paustika stuti before charitable giving, before a communal meal, or at the start of a prosperity vrata; visualize stores filling like an ocean.
Morning or before nourishment/offering; also at new/bright fortnight for increase themes.
Householder recitation suffices; a purohita may integrate into an Indra-homa or soma-symbolic offering (milk/clarified butter).
Used as an affirmation-style chant for abundance and stamina, paired with mindful eating and generosity.
Soma (as energizing sacrificial/medicinal drink, though not physically specified in AV domestic use here); Waters (āpas) as a metaphor of replenishing potency
āpaḥ as metaphor of broad waters and replenishing potency
Soma signifies refined nutritive essence; waters signify inexhaustible replenishment; together they model abundance that is both energizing (soma) and sustaining (āpas).
kukṣi (belly)
Not a direct bhaiṣajya charm; indirectly supports recovery by strengthening resolve and imaginal ‘repletion’ (countering wasting/weakness).
Symbolically aligns with agni/annavaha-srotas: the belly as site of assimilation; soma as cooling, nourishing rasa/ojas imagery.
Motivational/psychophysiological support for fatigue, low appetite, or burnout (as a contemplative aid; not medical treatment).
Householder/patron (dāśuṣ, the giver) and household economy
Transfer Indra’s soma-swollen abundance—strength, fullness, prosperity—into the patron’s life and stores.
Stuti-as-attraction: praise magnifies the deity’s state, then ‘draws’ that state into the ritual field (verbal imitative magic).
Depletion, scarcity, weakness, ‘draining’ influences
Food security, vigor, capacity, increase
- कुक्षिः (kukṣiḥ)
- the inner reservoir of strength; capacity to contain and transform nourishment
- सोमपातमः (somapātamaḥ)
- supremely energized by consecrated essence; the peak state of inspired vigor
- समुद्रः (samudraḥ)
- limitless store of power; deep stability beneath surface motion
- पिन्वते (pinvate)
- augmentation of prāṇa/ojas; prosperity as ‘filling’
- आपः (āpaḥ)
- replenishing life-force; fertility; medicinal coolness and flow
- काकुदः (kākudaḥ)
- the visible rise of potency; auspicious ‘peak’ of fortune
Cultivate inner fullness (pūrṇatā) and stable power without aggression.
Maṇipūra (belly/fire-center)
Slow diaphragmatic breathing with gentle kumbhaka after inhale (capacity-building without strain).
A cool, luminous nectar filling the abdomen like a calm sea; each breath raises a gentle wave-crest of strength.
Grounded expansiveness; ‘ocean mind’.
Chant steadily, feel the belly as a vast container; end with a pause to ‘hold’ the fullness, then dedicate merit to household well-being.
RV-style udātta/anudātta/svarita implied; maintain even triṣṭubh cadence rather than melodic elaboration.
Keep udātta syllables bright; do not over-lengthen final consonants; preserve sandhi flow (samudra iva).
Full, steady, ‘filling’ tone from the abdomen.
Though RV-derived, in Atharvanic paustika use it functions as a ‘plenitude charm’—speak as if already full, to seal the state.
11 times
Periods of scarcity, low morale, or when building household stability (food, savings, strength).
Before meals, before giving/charity, before starting demanding work, or at dawn for ‘rising fullness’.
Increased confidence, sense of support, and a prosperity-oriented mindset; ritual framing for generosity and replenishment.
Not a substitute for medical care for abdominal swelling or illness; avoid using the imagery to justify overeating or excess.
Soma is the implied energizer: Indra’s ‘swelling’ is causally linked to soma-drinking. Even when soma is not materially present in Atharvanic domestic settings, the mantra can ‘simulate’ soma’s energizing function, with water serving as a practical substitute medium.
It presupposes sacrificial ideology (soma → divine power → human benefit), reinforcing the priestly role in mediating access to the deity’s energized state through recitation and ritual substitution.
The soma-Indra imagery and verbs like pínvate are classic RV poetic stock. AV 20’s function is preservative; innovation lies more in later domestic redeployment than in the language itself.
Gopatha’s bandhu logic supports the transfer: oceanic fullness ↔ ritual plenitude; waters ↔ life/wholeness. The mantra’s efficacy is grounded in establishing these correspondences, enabling substitution (water for soma) in Atharvanic praxis.
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