Atharva Veda 6.11.3: Kanda 6, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 11, Mantra 3
Sukta 11
प्र॒जाप॑ति॒रनु॑मतिः सिनीवा॒ल्यऽचीक्लृपत्। स्त्रषू॑यम॒न्यत्र॒ दध॒त् पुंमां॑समु दधदि॒ह
prajā́patir ánumatiḥ sinīvālī́ ’cīklṛpat | strāṣūyám anyátra dádhat puṁmā́ṁsam úd dadhad ihá ||
Prajāpati, Anumati, Sinīvālī have ordered it aright: setting womanhood elsewhere, they here set up and bring forth the male.
ประชาปติ (Prajāpati), อนุมติ (Anumati), และสินีวาลี (Sinīvālī) ได้จัดวางสิ่งนี้ให้ถูกต้องแล้ว: วางความเป็นหญิงไว้ ณ ที่อื่น และที่นี่ตั้งมั่นให้เกิดเป็นบุรุษ.
The meaning
What it says
Prajāpati together with Anumati (Assent) and Sinīvālī (fertility power of the new-moon) “sets it in order”: the ‘female-producing’ principle is placed elsewhere, while the ‘male’ principle is established here (in this conception/pregnancy).
The inner meaning
A ritualized act of intention-setting: redirecting anxiety about outcome into a structured command backed by cosmic authorities (creator, consent, generative fullness). The psyche is trained to ‘separate and place’ qualities—fear and uncertainty are moved away; firmness and desired identity are installed.
The truth in it
Creation is shaped by alignment: when consent (anumati) and generative timing (sinīvālī) harmonize with purposeful order (prajāpati), outcomes feel ‘set’ rather than random. The mantra encodes the human impulse to negotiate fate through sacred speech.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Strīkarmāṇi (Conception/Fertility) / Abhicārika-adjacent (sex-selection by quality-transfer)
Its aim
To divert female-producing potency and establish male-producing potency in the present pregnancy/conception.
Word by Word
Pada patha
प्रजापतिः । अनुमतिः । सिनीवाली । अचीक्लृपत् । स्त्रषूयम् । अन्यत्र । दधत् । पुंमांसम् । उत् । दधत् । इह
- प्रजापतिः
- PrajāpatiNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot प्रजापति (प्रातिपदिक)
- अनुमतिः
- Anumati (goddess of consent/assent)Anumati (personified assent/favor; grants permission for conception)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot अनुमति (प्रातिपदिक)
- सिनीवाली
- Sinīvālī (goddess associated with new-moon/childbearing)Sinīvālī (fertility goddess associated with conception/new-moon fullness)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot सिनीवाली (प्रातिपदिक)
- अचीक्लृपत्
- has arranged / has made readyhas arranged/has made ready/has effected (intensive perfect; ‘set in order’ the generative outcome)Verbलिट् (परोक्षभूत/परफेक्ट), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRoot √कॢप् (कॢप्/कॢप्) ‘to arrange, make fit, prepare’
- स्त्रषूयम्
- woman-desire / lustwomanhood/femaleness; the female principle (as a deposited quality)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot स्त्रषूय (प्रातिपदिक; ‘strīṣūya’ = desire for women / woman-seeking)
- अन्यत्र
- elsewhereelsewhere; in another place (away from here/away from the intended locus)Indeclinableअव्ययRole अधिकरणRoot अन्यत्र
- दधत्
- placing / puttingplacing, depositing (as a ritual relocation of qualities)Verb (participle)वर्तमान कृदन्त (शतृ), प्रथमा एकवचन (पुं/नपुं) — here used predicatively with implied agentRole कर्तृ (कृदन्त-कर्तृभाव) / क्रियाविशेषणभावRoot √धा ‘to put, place’
- पुमांसम्
- a man / maleNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot पुमांस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- उ
- and / indeedIndeclinable (particle)अव्ययRoot उ
- दधत
- they place / they putVerbलट्, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन, परस्मैपदRoot √धा ‘to put, place’
- इह
- herehere; in this woman/this womb/this riteIndeclinableअव्ययRole अधिकरणRoot इह
Sandhi Notes
- प्रजापतिः | अनुमतिः | सिनीवाली | अचीक्लृपत् | स्त्रषूयम् | अन्यत्र | दधत् | पुमांसम् | उ | दधत | इह ।
- 1) सिनीवा॒ल्यऽचीक्लृपत् = सिनीवाली + अचीक्लृपत् (अवग्रहः: -ई + अ-)
- 2) स्त्रषू॑यम॒न्यत्र॒ = स्त्रषूयम् + अन्यत्र (म् + अ-)
- 3) पुंमां॑समु = पुमांसम् + उ (म् + उ)
- 4) दधदि॒ह = दधत + इह (त् + इ-; संहितायां तद्-आदेश/संधि-लेखनभेदेन ‘दधदिह’)
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic domestic tradition (not explicit here).
- Devata
- Prajāpati with Anumati and Sinīvālī.
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh (probable; requires metrical confirmation).
- Rasa
- Vira and Shanta
Sāyaṇa treats Anumati and Sinīvālī as śaktis assisting Prajāpati in embryo-formation. ‘Strāṣūyam anyatra dadhat’ is read as the diversion/removal of the female-producing factor, while ‘puṁmāṁsam … iha’ is the establishment of male-producing factor in the present womb—an explicit ‘quality-transfer’ logic typical of Atharvanic charms.
Unknown (Atharvanic domestic/strīkarman compilers)
Domestic fertility-rites (strīkarmāṇi), conception-ritual speech, ‘quality-transfer’ charms that relocate or install reproductive principles.
Represents Atharvanic household theology: fertility is governed not only by biology but by cosmic order, consent, and calendrical/goddess timing.
Prajāpati with Anumati and Sinīvālī
Prajāpati provides creative ordering; Anumati grants sanction/permission; Sinīvālī supplies womb-fecundity and correct timing—together authorizing and ‘installing’ generative outcome.
Supports reproductive success (conception maintenance, ‘setting’ pregnancy) in Atharvanic logic; reduces ritual/psychic obstacles framed as misalignment.
Protects the pregnancy/intention against contrary forces, doubts, and rival ‘principles’ (e.g., unwanted outcome).
4 pādas of ~8 syllables (with Atharvanic sandhi/word-length irregularities possible)
Likely allows resolution/overlong in pāda due to compounded ritual diction (e.g., straṣūyam, puṃmāṃsam).
Declarative and juridical—‘ordered it aright’ cadence; suited for ‘fixing’ (niyama) statements.
Creates a sense of inevitability and settlement; the perfect verb (acīklṛpat) is felt as already-accomplished reality.
Recite the mantra over the wife at the prescribed time for pumsavana (domestic conception-rite timing).
Perform a symbolic ‘removal’ gesture (e.g., brushing away to a side/elsewhere) while uttering ‘anyatra’, then a ‘placing’ gesture toward the wife while uttering ‘iha’.
Conclude by securing the amuletic/botanical medium on the wife (or in her proximity) as the stabilized carrier of the invoked ‘puṁmāṁsa’ potency.
Kauśika Sūtra: pumsavana performance using AV 6.11.3 (edition-dependent numbering).
Atharvan priest: executes the deictic choreography (elsewhere/here) and seals the transfer with mantra-recitation and amulet handling.
Recited in a conception rite or early pregnancy ‘setting’ rite, often alongside symbolic acts of placement/separation (placing objects ‘here/elsewhere’).
New-moon adjacency is thematically implied via Sinīvālī; performed at an auspicious tithi/nakṣatra per household custom.
Householder with Atharvanic specialist (optional) to oversee correct enunciation and accompanying act.
KauśS: strīkarmāṇi/conception-rites section (exact sūtra number varies by edition; to be verified against the user’s Kauśika text).
If adapted today: used only as a general fertility/blessing prayer, not for sex-selection; paired with prenatal wellbeing observances.
Anumati (assent as power); Sinīvālī (fertility deity); Quality-transfer (gendered ‘principles’ as movable substances)
The mantra treats abstract qualities as quasi-material: they can be displaced, installed, and made to ‘stand up’ (ut-dadhat). This is classic Atharvanic pharmakon logic—speech as the carrier of transfer.
Womb/garbha (implied)
Not a disease-cure; functions as reproductive ‘setting’/outcome-shaping within domestic magic.
Closest to garbhasaṃskāra and concepts of bīja (seed) and kṣetra (field/womb), though sex-selection is not a classical therapeutic aim.
Psychological coping/agency in pregnancy; intention rituals. (Not medical advice; not a substitute for prenatal care.)
The pregnant woman/couple and the present embryo (garbha)
Divert female-producing potency and establish male-producing potency ‘here’ (in the present conception).
Quality-transfer and localization: ‘elsewhere’ (anyatra) vs ‘here’ (iha); authoritative decree by creator + assent + fertility goddess.
Undesired outcome, perceived fate-variance, and ritual impurity/obstruction.
Lineage continuity, household status, inheritance logic.
- प्रजापतिः (prajāpatiḥ)
- The ordering intelligence that ‘sets’ life-patterns; cosmic legitimacy for fertility acts
- अनुमतिः (anumatiḥ)
- Psychic and social permission; the power of ‘yes’ that allows processes to proceed without obstruction
- सिनीवाली (sinīvālī)
- Womb-fullness, timely conception, the threshold between potential and embodiment
- अचीक्लृपत् (acīklṛpat)
- Ritual ‘fixing’—making a desired state seem already established
- स्त्रषूयम् (straṣūyam)
- A transferable ‘quality-substance’ that can be displaced by mantra
- पुंमांसम् (puṃmāṃsam)
- Desired generative outcome; also firmness/continuity in patriarchal lineage logic
- इह (iha)
- Localization of power into the present body/womb/ritual space
Alignment of intention with ‘consent’ and creative order; cultivating steadiness rather than grasping.
Svādhiṣṭhāna (reproductive center)
Gentle nāḍī-śodhana (no retention) to calm and ‘separate’ agitation from intention.
A calm lunar crescent over a protected womb-space; a golden thread ‘setting’ the desired blessing in place.
Saṅkalpa-sthāiratā (steadfast resolve).
Chant once through slowly, then sit silently, releasing fixation and returning to a general blessing for healthy progeny and safe pregnancy.
Maintain retroflex ṇ in anu-matiḥ? (no retroflex here) but keep dental n clear.; sinīvālī: long ī and ā; avoid collapsing vowels.; puṃmāṃsam: nasalization (ṃ) and long āṃ; keep final -am audible.
Recitation-style (Atharvanic) with clear udātta emphasis on deity-names; avoid sing-song elongation.
Keep compound breaks minimal: pra-jā-pa-tiḥ | a-nu-ma-tiḥ | si-nī-vā-lī | a-cī-klṛ-pat; stress semantic pivots: anyatra / iha; ut dadhat.
Firm, declarative, ‘settling’ tone.
Often paired with a physical act of ‘placing aside’ (anyatra) and ‘placing here’ (iha) to embody the mantra’s transfer-logic.
3 times
Seeking a traditional conception blessing or pregnancy ‘stabilizing’ prayer within Atharvanic domestic piety.
At a household fertility rite, ideally on an auspicious day; or as a general progeny-blessing without outcome-fixation.
Sense of order, reassurance, and sacred framing of conception; devotional connection to Prajāpati and lunar fertility powers.
Do not use to reinforce harmful gender bias or for sex-selection; not a substitute for medical prenatal care.
The mantra’s core technology is ‘movable qualities’ (female-ness relocated, male-ness installed). A botanical/amuletic medium—common in pumsavana—serves as the physical anchor for this relocation, making an abstract transfer legible as a manipulable object-process.
The verse presumes that sex outcome is a legitimate object of ritual control, aligning reproductive labor with male lineage interests. Divine agents and priestly technique jointly override contingency, reflecting a social order where ritual expertise mediates intimate bodily outcomes.
The deictic polarity ‘anyatra/ihá’ combined with ‘dadhat’ is a hallmark of Atharvanic operative speech: language functions as spatial programming. The intensive perfect ‘acīklṛpat’ is an older formation but used here in a pragmatic, technical sense (‘has arranged the outcome’).
Gopatha’s Atharvanic ideology often treats deities as administrators of bodily and social order, with mantras as executable commands. This verse exemplifies that: Prajāpati and fertility powers ‘configure’ the embryo by relocating principles, a model congenial to Gopatha’s ritual-causal explanations.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Atharva Veda in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
