Atharva Veda 8.2.22: Kanda 8, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 2, Mantra 22
Sukta 2
श॒रदे॑ त्वा हेम॒न्ताय॑ वस॒न्ताय॑ ग्री॒ष्माय॒ परि॑ दद्मसि । व॒र्षाणि॒ तुभ्यं॑ स्यो॒नानि॒ येषु॒ वर्ध॑न्त॒ ओष॑धीः
śaráde tvā hemantā́ya vasantā́ya grīṣmā́ya pári dadmasi | varṣā́ṇi túbhyaṃ syōnā́ni yéṣu várdhante óṣadhīḥ
To Autumn thee, to Winter, to the Spring, to Summer do we wholly commit. Years, kindly and benign, be thine—those in which the healing plants wax and prosper.
เรามอบท่านโดยสิ้นเชิงแก่ฤดูใบไม้ร่วง แก่ฤดูหนาว แก่ฤดูใบไม้ผลิ แก่ฤดูร้อน. ขอปีเดือนอันร่มเย็นและเมตตาจงเป็นของท่าน—ปีที่เหล่าสมุนไพร (ओषधीः, oṣadhīḥ) เจริญงอกงามและรุ่งเรือง.
The meaning
What it says
A seasonal commitment: “To Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer we commit you wholly. Benign years be yours—those in which the healing plants prosper.”
The inner meaning
Healing is framed as rhythmic integration with time: the person is entrusted to the cycle rather than a single crisis moment. The psyche receives permission to heal gradually, season by season.
The truth in it
Health is ecological and temporal: when we align with natural cycles, the conditions for medicine (oṣadhī) and recovery increase.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Bhaisajya (Healing) / Āyusya (Longevity)
Its aim
To ensure safe passage through the seasons and obtain ‘benign years’ characterized by abundant medicinal plants.
Word by Word
Pada patha
श॒रदे॑ । त्वा॒ । हे॒म॒न्ताय॑ । व॒स॒न्ताय॑ । ग्री॒ष्माय॑ । परि॑ । द॒द्म॒सि॒ । व॒र्षाणि॑ । तुभ्य॑म् । स्यो॒नानि॑ । येषु॑ । वर्ध॑न्ते । ओष॑धीः ।
- शरदे
- to/for the autumnfor autumn; the season of ripening/health, auspicious time-allocationNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; चतुर्थी (सम्प्रदान) एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot शरद्
- त्वा
- you (thee)thee; the beneficiary (person to be preserved)Pronounद्वितीया एकवचनRole कर्मRoot युष्मद् (त्वद्)
- हेमन्ताय
- to/for the winterfor winter; assigning safe passage through the cold seasonNounपुंलिङ्ग; चतुर्थी एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot हेमन्त
- वसन्ताय
- to/for the springfor spring; season of renewal, restoring vitalityNounपुंलिङ्ग; चतुर्थी एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot वसन्त
- ग्रीष्माय
- to/for the summerfor summer; season of heat, requiring protectionNounपुंलिङ्ग; चतुर्थी एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot ग्रीष्म
- परि
- around; wholly (as verbal prefix)around, fully; comprehensive bestowal/encircling protectionIndeclinable (Preverb/Upasarga)उपसर्ग (क्रियाविशेषण)Root परि
- दद्मसि
- we give / we assignwe give/assign; ritually ‘hand over’ the person to the seasons safelyVerbलट्; उत्तमपुरुष; बहुवचनRoot दा (डादाने) / दा (दाने)
- वर्षाणि
- rains; rainy seasonsyears/rain-seasons; the annual cycle as life-supportNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया बहुवचनRole कर्मRoot वर्ष
- तुभ्यम्
- to/for youto thee; beneficiary dativePronounचतुर्थी एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot युष्मद् (युष्मद्)
- स्योनानि
- kindly, pleasant, auspiciouskindly, pleasant, safe; ‘hospitable’ years free of harmAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया बहुवचन (वर्षाणि इति विशेषणम्)Role कर्मRoot स्योन
- येषु
- in whichin which; relative link to the life-sustaining conditionPronoun (Relative)नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी बहुवचनRole अधिकरणRoot यद्
- वर्धन्ते
- they grow; they thrivethey grow; increase and flourish (health as growth)Verbलट्; प्रथमपुरुष; बहुवचन; आत्मनेपदRoot वृध् (वर्धते)
- ओषधीः
- herbs; medicinal plantsplants/herbs; medicinal vegetation, the material basis of healingNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot ओषधि
Sandhi Notes
- शरदे (चतुर्थी) + त्वा (द्वितीया) — संधि-परिवर्तनं नास्ति, केवलं पदसंयोगः।
- 2) ग्रीष्माय परि: विसर्गादि नास्ति
- परि उपसर्गः दद्मसि इति क्रियायाः सह।
- 3) तुभ्यं स्योनानि: तुभ्यम् इत्यस्य अन्त्य-‘म्’ पदान्ते प्रायः लोप/अनुस्वार-लेखनेन ‘तुभ्यं’ इति पाठः।
- 4) वर्धन्त ओषधीः: संहितायां ‘वर्धन्ते’ (आत्मनेपद) इति रूपं
- पदपाठे/लेखने ‘वर्धन्त’ इति संक्षेपः दृश्यते।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition (Āyusya hymn-cycle).
- Devata
- Kāla/Ṛtu-order implicitly; Oṣadhīs as healing agents (personified).
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh-like (Atharvanic seasonal formula).
- Rasa
- Shanta
Sāyaṇa reads the ‘giving to the seasons’ as securing unharmed continuity through the annual cycle; ‘syonāni varṣāṇi’ are years made gentle by rite. The mention of oṣadhīs ties longevity to the flourishing of medicinal plants—health is synchronized with vegetal increase.
Unknown (Āyuṣya hymn-cycle)
Seasonal/time-order blessings; linking longevity with abundance of medicinal plants and benign environmental conditions.
A distinctly Atharvanic ecological sensibility: life is prolonged by harmonizing with ṛtu and by ensuring oṣadhī-prosperity.
Ṛtu/Kāla-order (implicit); Oṣadhīs (personified)
The seasons regulate growth, rest, and renewal; Oṣadhīs embody the healing capacity of earth under right seasonal governance.
Supports recovery through seasonal balance and availability/potency of medicines.
Protects the person through safe passage of seasonal vulnerabilities (cold, heat, transitions).
4 pādas × ~8 syllables; list of seasons creates a smooth procession.
Enumerative pādas with sandhi compressions; often chanted in even cadence for household use.
Processional and cyclical—like walking around a patient in a protective circuit.
Encourages patience and trust in gradual healing; stabilizes routines across seasons.
Mark the four directions/quarters, correlating them with the seasonal cycle as a protective enclosure.
Recite the mantra while making a circling gesture (pari-) around the beneficiary, symbolically ‘handing over’ the person to safe seasons.
If herbs are present, touch or display medicinal plants at the final pāda to link life-extension with oṣadhi-flourishing.
Kauśika Sūtra: seasonal/āyusya protection with herb-association (general application of AV 8.2; exact sūtra numbering varies by edition).
Atharvan priest as ritual technologist of time: he aligns the patient’s life with the calendrical/seasonal order and with the growth of healing plants.
Recite when beginning a seasonal regimen, preparing herbal decoctions, or at the start of a new season; can be spoken over stored herbs.
At season junctions (ṛtu-sandhi), especially autumn and spring; also on day of preparing medicines.
Householder-led; Atharvan priest optional for formal rite.
Āyuṣya rites may include seasonal/annual blessings; oṣadhī verses can be used when preparing household remedies (exact sūtra varies).
Used as a seasonal wellness intention-setting chant (diet, sleep, herbs).
Oṣadhīḥ (medicinal plants/herbs)
The mantra ties personal health to the flourishing of plant-medicine: when the world is seasonally ‘kind’, the body’s healing resources (inner and outer) increase.
General convalescence; seasonal susceptibility; chronic conditions needing long-term support.
Entrustment to ṛtu-order + blessing for benign years + invocation of herb-prosperity (medicine availability and potency).
Ṛtucaryā (seasonal regimen); oṣadhi as dravya supporting dhātu rebuilding; emphasizes living in tune with seasonal doṣa shifts.
Seasonal health planning (sleep/light, diet shifts), preventive care, and adherence to long-term recovery protocols.
Patient/householder across the year
Ensure safe seasonal passage and years favorable to healing; increase medicinal efficacy via herb-prosperity.
Ritual ‘handover’ to seasons (pari-dā) + ecological blessing for oṣadhī growth.
Seasonal relapse, environmental stressors, scarcity of remedies
Health-prosperity through abundant medicines and benign years
- śarad (शरद्)
- ripening, convalescence, clarity after crisis
- hemanta (हेमन्त)
- rest, conservation, rebuilding reserves
- vasanta (वसन्त)
- renewal, return of strength and appetite
- grīṣma (ग्रीष्म)
- heat/metabolic power, maturation of vitality
- pari dadmasi (परि दद्मसि)
- entrusting the person to protective cyclic order; total care
- varṣāṇi syoṇāni (वर्षाणि स्योनानि)
- years that are hospitable to life—low adversity, high support
- oṣadhīḥ (ओषधीः)
- nature’s medicine; restorative intelligences in the world
Synchronizing body-mind with seasonal rhythms; patience in healing.
Maṇipūra (metabolic seasonality)
Alternate-nostril breathing (nāḍī-śodhana) lightly during seasonal transitions.
A wheel of four seasons turning smoothly around the body; herbs sprouting and offering luminous sap into the bloodstream.
Grounded, cyclical awareness (kāla-smṛti).
At each season change, chant 11 times and set one practical ṛtucaryā commitment (sleep, diet, movement).
śarade: clear retroflex ḍ in transliteration context not needed; keep ‘śa-ra-de’; oṣadhīḥ: retroflex ṣ and long īḥ
Even, cyclical; slight pause between season names; soften on ‘syoṇāni’.
Keep season compounds clear: heman-tāya, vasan-tāya, grīṣmāya; maintain long vowels.
Gentle, blessing-like; suitable for daily recitation.
Especially apt when handling herbs: let the mantra ‘season’ the medicine by aligning it with ṛtu-order.
11 times
Starting seasonal health routines, chronic recovery, preparing herbal supports, wishing stable years for a family member.
At season changes, during herbal preparation, or as a weekly blessing.
Better adherence to seasonal self-care; calmer outlook; symbolic strengthening of herbal support and recovery trajectory.
Herbal use should consider allergies, interactions, pregnancy, and clinician advice for serious conditions.
The mantra explicitly conditions ‘benign years’ on the flourishing of oṣadhīs: vegetal growth is a proxy for health and a material guarantee of therapy. The rite thus binds human longevity to ecological abundance.
Health is secured through priestly management of cosmic time (ṛtus) and access to medicinal knowledge (oṣadhi-lore), reinforcing the Atharvan’s specialized authority over domestic well-being.
The pragmatic ‘pari dadmasi’ (we assign/commit) is more operational than RV praise; the seasonal enumeration is a ritual calendarization typical of Atharvanic applied speech.
Gopatha’s Atharvanic theology tends to treat alignment with ṛta (ordered cycles) as a condition of success; here the seasons and the oṣadhīs are the observable indices that the rite has harmonized the beneficiary with that order.
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.
