Atharva Veda 4.13.7: Kanda 4, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 13, Mantra 7
Sukta 13
हस्ता॑भ्यां॒ दश॑शाखाभ्यां जि॒ह्वा वा॒चः पु॑रोग॒वी। अ॒ना॒म॒यि॒त्नुभ्यां॒ हस्ता॑भ्यां॒ ताभ्यां॑ त्वा॒भि मृ॑शामसि
hástābhyāṃ dáśaśākhābhyāṃ jihvā́ vā́caḥ purogávī | anāmayítnubhyāṃ hástābhyāṃ tā́bhyāṃ tvā́bhí mṛśāmasi
With hands, ten-branched with fingers, while the tongue goes foremost of speech, with hands that make for freedom from disease—with those two hands we touch thee over.
ด้วยสองมือที่แตกแขนงเป็นสิบ (คือ นิ้วทั้งสิบ) ขณะที่ลิ้นเป็นผู้นำหน้าของวาจา ด้วยสองมืออันมุ่งสู่ความไร้โรค—ด้วยสองมือนั้นเราลูบไล้สัมผัสท่านทั่วกาย
The meaning
What it says
A healing touch is performed: the ten-fingered hands (daśa-śākhā) touch the patient while the tongue, as the leader of speech, empowers the act through correctly spoken vāc; the hands are explicitly characterized as anāmayitnu—disease-removing.
The inner meaning
The verse fuses somatic agency (hands) with cognitive/ethical agency (speech). Healing is framed as coordinated intention: articulate, truthful speech stabilizes attention and will, while touch conveys reassurance, warmth, and restoration of bodily order.
The truth in it
Transformation occurs when word and deed align: speech that leads (puragavī) and action that follows (hands) together generate wholeness (anāmaya).
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Bhaisajya (Healing)
Its aim
Healing by mantra-guided touch: to generate anāmaya (freedom from illness) through the hands, supported by correct speech.
Word by Word
Pada patha
हस्ता॑भ्याम् । दश॑-शाखाभ्याम् । जि॒ह्वा । वा॒चः । पु॒रः॒-गो॒वी । अ॒ना॒म॒यि॒-त्नुभ्याम् । हस्ता॑भ्याम् । ताभ्याम् । त्वा॒ । अ॒भि । मृ॒शा॒म॒सि॒ ।
- हस्ताभ्याम्
- with (two) handsNounपुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया-विभक्ति; द्विवचनRole करणRoot हस्त (प्रातिपदिक)
- दशशाखाभ्याम्
- with the ten-branched (i.e., ten-fingered) (hands)with ten-branching (ones); with ten fingers (hands as ‘branched’ like a plant, grasping and directing power)Adjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग (शाखा-आधार); तृतीया-विभक्ति; द्विवचन; हस्ताभ्याम् इति विशेषणम्Role करणRoot दश-शाखा (समास-प्रातिपदिक)
- जिह्वा
- the tonguetongue (organ of utterance; supports mantra efficacy)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot जिह्वा (प्रातिपदिक)
- वाचः
- of speechNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; षष्ठी-विभक्ति; एकवचन (वाचः = वाचस्)Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root वाच् (प्रातिपदिक)
- पुरोगवी
- going in front, leadingAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति; एकवचन; जिह्वा इति विशेषणम्Role कर्तृRoot पुरोगवी (प्रातिपदिक; पुरस् + गवी/गविन्)
- अनामयित्नुभ्याम्
- with the disease-removing (hands)with (powers) that ward off disease; making free from sickness (anāmaya = health; -tnu as effecting/bringing about)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (विशेषण-स्वभाव); तृतीया-विभक्ति; द्विवचन; हस्ताभ्याम् इति विशेषणम्Role करणRoot अनामयित्नु (प्रातिपदिक; अ-नामय + इत्नु)
- हस्ताभ्याम्
- with (two) handswith hands (reassertion: hands as the immediate agents)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया-विभक्ति; द्विवचनRole करणRoot हस्त (प्रातिपदिक)
- ताभ्याम्
- with those (two)with those two (hands) (anaphoric dual)Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग (करणे द्विवचन-रूपम्); तृतीया-विभक्ति; द्विवचन; पूर्वोक्त-हस्ताभ्याम् प्रति निर्देशःRole करणRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- त्वा
- youthee (the patient)Pronounद्वितीया-विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्मRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अभि
- towards, uponupon, over (direction of touch; enveloping contact)Indeclinableउपसर्गः (मृश् धातोः सह) / अव्ययम्Role क्रियाविशेषणम्Root अभि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- मृशामसि
- we touch (stroke)we touch/stroke; we lay hands upon (therapeutic abhimarśana; collective ‘we’ of officiants/tradition)Verbलट् (वर्तमान); उत्तम-पुरुष; बहुवचन; परस्मैपदमRole क्रिया (कर्तृ = वयम्)Root मृश् (धातु; स्पर्शने)
Sandhi Notes
- हस्ताभ्याम् | दशशाखाभ्याम् | जिह्वा | वाचः | पुरोगवी | अनामयित्नुभ्याम् | हस्ताभ्याम् | ताभ्याम् | त्वा | अभि | मृशामसि।
- 1) वाचः इति रूपं वाचस्-शब्दस्य षष्ठी-एकवचनम् (अन्त्यस् → ः)
- 2) दशशाखाभ्याम्, अनामयित्नुभ्याम् इत्युभे विशेषणपदे हस्ताभ्याम् (करण-द्विवचन) इत्यस्य विशेषणत्वेन प्रयुक्ते।
- 3) अभि इति उपसर्गः मृशामसि इत्यनेन सह ‘अभि-मृश्’ (स्पर्श/मार्जन) अर्थे।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition (anukramaṇī attributions vary)
- Devata
- Hasta/Vāc as functional deities (healing touch and sacred speech)
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta and Adbhuta
The ‘ten-branched’ hands are glossed as ten-fingered, likened to branching implements that seize and redirect harmful forces. ‘Jihvā vācaḥ purogavī’ underscores that speech (mantra) must be correctly led by the tongue—proper phonation is part of the cure. ‘Anāmayitnu’ is interpreted as that which produces anāmaya (health), i.e., hands empowered to generate disease-lessness; ‘abhimṛś’ is the ritual stroking/laying-on.
Anonymous (Atharvanic tradition; anukramaṇī varies)
Bhaiṣajya: healing by mantra + touch; therapeutic vāc and protective contact-rites.
Embodies the Atharvan paradigm that efficacy arises from coordinated ritual action and correctly placed speech—healing as sacral technology of care.
Hasta and Vāc (functional deities of healing touch and sacred speech)
Hasta executes the rite in the visible world; Vāc animates it as intelligible, ordered power—together they mediate between intention and bodily outcome.
Removal of illness through consecrated touch guided by mantra (restoring anāmaya).
Apotropaic ‘covering’ touch (abhi-mṛś) that seals the body against returning disorder.
4 pādas × ~8 syllables (Atharvanic flexibility in sandhi/compound weight)
Mantric diction with heavy compounds (daśaśākhābhyām; anāmayitnubhyām) can compress/expand perceived morae while retaining anuṣṭubh cadence.
Steady, procedural rhythm suited to timed touch (stroking/laying-on) coordinated with recitation.
Induces calm assurance; synchronizes breath, speech, and hand-movement—enhancing the ‘felt’ efficacy of the rite.
Recite while placing both hands upon the patient (dual emphasized).
Stroke from head toward the afflicted region (or outward from the heart), coordinating touch with the mantra’s rhythm.
Optionally repeat the stroking three times to ‘seal’ anāmaya, ending with a brief pause of silence (śam) to stabilize the effect.
Kauśika Sūtra: abhimarśana (stroking) rite with AVŚ 4.13.6–7 in yakṣma/roga contexts (general application; exact sūtra numbering varies by edition).
Atharvan-healer (and assistants if present): performs synchronized recitation and manual contact; ensures the tongue ‘leads’ speech—i.e., precise articulation.
A family healer/elder touches the afflicted area or the head/heart region while reciting, ideally with steady breath and clear articulation.
At onset of illness; also at liminal times (dawn/evening) for reinforcement.
Optional; household performance is typical in Atharvanic healing, with a knowledgeable reciter enhancing precision.
Likely deployable under Kauśika’s general bhaiṣajya procedures involving stroking/touch and recitation (exact sūtra varies by editorial mapping).
Use as a calm laying-on-of-hands prayer/affirmation with attention to pronunciation and gentle touch.
hands (ten-fingered) as grasping/branching instruments; tongue/speech (vāc) as the enabling medium of efficacy
In Atharvanic logic, the body itself can be the ‘substance’: hands function as the medicinal implement, while vāc is the activating carrier—medicine and magic converge in embodied rite.
General illness (āmaya) / undefined malaise; aims at anāmaya (freedom from disease).
Hands; tongue (as organ of speech).
Mantra-guided therapeutic touch: speech leads, hands enact; the touch ‘over’ (abhi) functions as sealing and soothing.
Supports ‘śamana’ (pacification) through reassurance, regulated breath/speech, and sparśa (therapeutic touch); aligns with vāta-soothing care practices.
Supportive touch/comforting contact plus focused verbal affirmation—akin to bedside reassurance, guided relaxation, and therapeutic suggestion.
A sick or weakened person (the addressed ‘tvā’).
To confer anāmaya (disease-freedom) by consecrated touch empowered by vāc.
Contact-magic (abhi-mṛś) + performative speech (vāc) + embodied symbolism (ten-finger ‘branches’ as complete instrument).
Return/spread of illness; diffuse harmful influences conceptualized as disorder in the body.
- हस्त (hasta)
- effective agency; the healer’s capacity to ‘set right’ through contact and skill
- दशशाख (daśa-śākha)
- many-pronged competence; complete instrumentality; a ‘tree’ of actions capable of grasping and releasing
- जिह्वा (jihvā)
- disciplined articulation; the organ that makes vow, blessing, and therapy operative
- वाच् (vāc)
- mantric potency; truth-bearing utterance as pharmakon
- पुरोगवी (puragavī)
- primacy of right formulation/intent before action
- अनामयित्नु (anāmayitnu)
- restorative power; return to integrity and ease
- अभि मृश् (abhi mṛś)
- therapeutic laying-on of hands; transfer of order/protection
Unify vāc (speech) and karma (action): let intention ride the breath into clear utterance, then into compassionate touch.
viśuddha (speech) and anāhata (healing compassion)
Slow nasal breathing with gentle lengthened exhale timed to each pāda.
Light flowing from the tongue as sound into the hands, then spreading as a cool protective layer over the body.
Calm, steady attention (ekāgratā) with benevolent resolve.
Recite once per touch-cycle over the affected region; keep speech truthful and unhurried—Atharvanic efficacy is tied to precision and composure.
Atharvavedic accentuation with udātta/svarita marking; keep the accented syllables slightly raised without melodic exaggeration.
Maintain clarity on compounds: daśa-śākhābhyām; anāmayitnubhyām; puragavī. Let puragavī carry a ‘leading’ emphasis.
Warm, steady, slightly hushed (as in bedside recitation).
Coordinate each full recitation with one complete ‘covering’ stroke (abhi-mṛś) from head toward chest/affected area.
3 times
Someone is feverish, anxious, in pain, or recovering and needing steadiness and reassurance.
Before sleep, at dawn, or during caregiving moments when touch is appropriate and consented.
Calm, reduced distress, strengthened sense of protection; traditional aim: anāmaya (freedom from illness).
Not a substitute for medical care; avoid touching painful/infected areas without hygiene; obtain consent.
The ‘ten-branched’ metaphor borrows botanical imagery to conceptualize the hand as an herb-like implement: branching, grasping, and distributing potency. The mantra thus ‘naturalizes’ manual therapy by mapping it onto plant morphology, a common Atharvanic strategy for making efficacy intelligible.
Correct speech is foregrounded as prerequisite (‘tongue leading speech’), implying trained reciters and a hierarchy of competence. Healing is not merely caring touch; it is authorized touch, dependent on mastery of Vedic phonetics and ritual performance.
The technical healing derivative anāmayitnu is characteristic of Atharvanic medical lexicon. The explicit coupling of bodily technique (touch) with speech mechanics (tongue leading vāc) is more pragmatic and procedural than typical RV praise-hymn diction.
Gopatha’s emphasis on brahman as operative supports the verse’s internal logic: speech properly produced (tongue-led) empowers bodily action (hands) to yield anāmaya. The rite exemplifies Atharvanic ‘technology’: correct utterance + correct gesture = effect.
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