Atharva Veda 3.11.6: Kanda 3, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 11, Mantra 6
Sukta 11
इ॒हैव स्तं॑ प्राणापानौ॒ माप॑ गातमि॒तो यु॒वम्। शरी॑रम॒स्याङ्गा॑नि ज॒रसे॑ वहतं॒ पुनः॑
iháiva stáṃ prāṇāpānau mā́pa gātam itó yuvám | śarī́ram asyā́ṅgāni jarásé vahatáṃ púnaḥ ||
Here verily stand ye, Breath and Out-breath; go not away from hence, ye twain. Bear back again his body and his members, onward unto old age.
จงตั้งอยู่ ณ ที่นี้เองเถิด ลมหายใจเข้า (ปราณะ, prāṇa) และลมหายใจออก (อปานะ, apāna) เอ๋ย; พวกเจ้าทั้งสองอย่าได้จากไปจากที่นี่. จงพาร่างกายและอวัยวะของเขากลับคืนอีกครั้ง ให้ดำเนินต่อไปจนถึงความชรา.
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition
Devata: Prāṇa–Apāna
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh
Primary: shanta
Secondary: vira
Sāyaṇa reads the verse as a direct ‘fixing’ (sthāpana) of prāṇa/apāna in the patient. ‘Jarase’ is interpreted positively: not senility as affliction, but reaching the proper term of life. ‘Punḥ’ signals recovery from a threatened departure of life.
To prevent the departure of vital breath and to restore bodily integrity so the patient reaches old age in due course.
Threatened loss of breath/vitality (fainting, shock, severe debility; ‘approach of death’ broadly).
śarīra (body), aṅgāni (limbs/members).
Apotropaic retention + restorative reintegration: breath is commanded to remain and to ‘carry back’ bodily wholeness; functions as a verbal resuscitation/grounding technique.
Prāṇa-vāyu/apāna-vāyu regulation; stabilization of vāta derangement (collapse, tremor, fear) by re-establishing normal vāyu movement.
Breath coaching during panic/syncope risk; grounding after trauma; supportive mantra during recovery from respiratory weakness (as adjunct, not replacement for care).
bhaisajya
A weakened or endangered patient.
Prevent departure of vital breath; restore bodily integrity; secure progression to old age.
Direct adjuration/imperative to personified physiological powers; spatial binding (‘iha eva’ stationing) and reversal (‘punaḥ’ restoration).
Premature ‘death-agencies’ and life-force loss (implicit mṛtyu/niṛti).
The speaker addresses Prāṇa and Apāna (in-breath and out-breath), commanding them to remain present and not depart, and to carry back the patient’s body and limbs so life continues toward old age.
A stabilizing injunction against panic, dissociation, and “life-force leakage”: attention is gathered back into the body. The paired breaths symbolize regulated autonomic balance—receiving (prāṇa) and releasing (apāna)—restoring coherence to the person’s felt sense of embodiment.
Life persists when the basic rhythms are not allowed to scatter. Continuity of breath is continuity of self; longevity is not only duration but the re-integration of one’s parts into a single, steady course.
- इह (iha)
- presence; anchoring consciousness in the body/room/household
- प्राणापानौ (prāṇāpānau)
- vital polarity; intake/excretion; regulation of life processes
- मा अप गातम् (mā apa gātam)
- anti-departure spell against fainting, shock, dying
- शरीरम् (śarīram)
- the integrated field of life; the “seat” to be re-occupied by breath
- अङ्गानि (aṅgāni)
- functional faculties; scattered capacities brought back
- जरसे (jarase)
- auspicious life-course; maturation rather than premature ending
- पुनः (punaḥ)
- restoration; reversal of decline
Stationing awareness ‘here’ in the breath-body field; balancing the two currents of intake and release.
Anāhata (breath/heart) with linkage to Nābhi/Manipūra (vāyu regulation) and Mūlādhāra (apāna grounding).
Gentle nāsikā breathing with equalized inhale/exhale; brief natural pauses without strain.
Two luminous streams (prāṇa/apāna) circling and knitting the limbs back into wholeness, sealing leaks of vitality.
Pratyāhāra-like re-collection from scattering into steadiness.
Chant softly, then sit in silence tracking breath continuity; end by affirming ‘jarase’—a long, safe life-course.
Simple Atharvanic recitation with clear udātta on accented syllables; maintain steadiness on imperatives (mā, gātam).
Emphasize deictic ‘iha’ and prohibition ‘mā’; keep prāṇāpānau as a single, well-linked unit.
Keep retroflex in śarīram clear (śa-rī-ram)., Do not over-separate prāṇāpānau; avoid inserting a pause mid-compound., Jarase: light ‘ja’ with clear ‘ra’ tap; avoid ‘jaraa’ drag unless style requires.
Low, steady, reassuring; avoid strain—model the breath you are invoking.
Often paired with touch/placement rites (head/heart/navel) in living Atharvan practice; keep the ‘stationing’ word iha as the ritual pivot.
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Breath weakness, faintness, recovery after illness, anxiety with sense of ‘life slipping away’.
At onset of breath distress; during convalescence morning/evening; before sleep for those fearing night-time breath loss.
Calmer respiration, steadier presence, strengthened will-to-live; traditional aim: longevity toward old age.
Not a substitute for emergency medicine; if severe breathing difficulty occurs, seek urgent care.
पदच्छेद (sandhi-resolution): इह एव स्तम् प्राणापानौ मा अप गातम् इतः युवम् । शरीरम् अस्य अङ्गानि जरसे वहतम् पुनः । प्रमुख-सन्धयः: (1) इहैव = इह + एव (स्वर-सन्धि: अ + ए → ऐ). (2) माप = मा + अप (आ + अ → आ; लेखन/उच्चारण में ‘माप’). (3) गातमितो = गातम् + इतः (म् + इ → मि; अनुस्वार/मकार-सन्धि). (4) अस्याङ्गानि = अस्य + अङ्गानि (अ + अ → आ).
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