Sukta 18

Kind of hymn

Strīkarmāṇi (Women’s Rites) / Abhicārika (Rival-subduing)

What it is for

To expel or demote the rival co-wife and to bind the husband/lover’s attention and preference exclusively to the ritual performer/client.

Who it is for

Householders—especially a wife (or her female kin/ritual helper) seeking precedence, exclusivity, and protection against a rival within a polygynous or contested domestic setting.

Also used as

• Strīkarmāṇi (women’s rites)
• Ākarṣaṇa (attraction/attachment)
• Stambhana/Abhibhava (subduing, overmastering)

The deity

The hymn treats the living potency of plants—especially a dug-up charm-herb—as an intelligent, commandable force that can dislodge a rival and re-route desire and loyalty. Vanaspati functions as the lord and amplifier of vegetal power, while the mantra targets manas (mind) as the controllable seat of attachment.

Powers of the deity

• Bestowing victory in domestic rivalry (saptnī-bādhana)
• Compelling and redirecting manas (affection/attention)
• Raising the operator’s rank and lowering the rival (symbolic ‘upper/lower’ control)
• Securing exclusive marital possession and household stability for the client
• Acting through contact-magic: dug herb, touched earth, and spoken formula

Why the deity is called

Invoked to ‘activate’ the strongest herb among creepers, making it an instrument to drive away the rival-wife and to make the husband’s mind reliably return to the operator.

The seer

• Atharvanic (Angirasa-type) seer (anonymous in practice)Atharvan. Domestic abhicāra and strīkarmāṇi: rival-subduing, attraction/attachment (ākarṣaṇa), and status-precedence charms using herbs, knots, and spoken compulsion

Other hymns of this seer

• AV 3.19 (related domestic charm-cycle context)
• AV 6.8 (saptnī-bādhana / rival-woman themes in later books)
• AV 6.130 (ākarṣaṇa / mind-turning type formulas, thematic parallels)

Preparing for the rite

• Select a potent oṣadhi (unnamed in the text) identified as ‘strongest of the creepers’; approach a living patch rather than dried stock.
• Purify by bathing and keeping silence briefly; set intention: ‘rival below, husband toward me’.
• Dig with a clean implement (wood/stone/iron as locally available), taking some surrounding earth as the herb’s ‘seat’ of power.

The rite

• Recite 3.18.1 while digging up and lifting the herb, explicitly naming its rival-expelling and husband-winning function.
• Deploy the ‘upper/lower’ formula (cf. 3.18.4) while placing the herb in a ‘higher’ position (on the person, bed, threshold, or hair-knot) and imagining the rival ‘below’.
• Recite the mind-compulsion verse (cf. 3.18.6) while touching the husband’s seat/garment/bed-space or while wearing the herb as a concealed charm, directing his manas to ‘run after me’.
• Conclude by keeping the herb secured (knot/packet) and maintaining the operator’s ‘upper’ placement in household space (seat, sleeping side, threshold precedence).

What it needs

• Oṣadhi/vanaspati (a charm-herb, preferably freshly dug)
• A little earth from the herb’s root-site
• Cloth packet or cord for tying (amulet-bundle)
• Optional: water for sprinkling and ‘flow’ symbolism aligned with the mantra

When

Traditionally performed at a liminal domestic time (dawn/evening) or before conjugal reunion; practically, when rivalry is active and the husband is expected to return home.

The main substance

Oṣadhi (a freshly dug charm-herb)

Herbs

• Unnamed oṣadhi described as ‘vīrudhāṃ balavattamā’ (strongest among creepers)

Amulets

• Herb-bundle tied in cloth
• Cord/knot for fastening the herb on the body, hair, bed, or threshold

How it is prepared

Dig up the herb with some root-earth; wrap and tie it as a small concealed packet; place/wear it in a ‘higher’ position while reciting the relevant verses to align material placement with the ‘upper/lower’ command.