Atharva Veda 4.13.1: Kanda 4, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 13, Mantra 1
Sukta 13
रोगनिवारणम् उ॒त दे॑वा॒ अव॑हितं॒ देवा॒ उन्न॑यथा॒ पुनः॑ । उ॒ताग॑श्च॒क्रुषं॑ देवा॒ देवा॑ जी॒वय॑था॒ पुनः॑
utá devā́ avahitàṃ devā́ ún nayatha púnaḥ | utā́gaś cakrúṣaṃ devā́ devā́ jīvayatha púnaḥ
And, O ye Gods, him who is laid low—O Gods, lift ye him up again. And him who hath committed offense—O Gods, O Gods, make ye him live again.
At, O mga Diyos, siya na nasa mababang kalagayan, O mga Diyos, itaas ninyo siyang muli. At siya na nagkasala, O mga Diyos, O mga Diyos, buhayin ninyo siyang muli.
The meaning
What it says
A plea to the All-Gods: lift up the one laid low; revive again the one who has committed offense—grant life again.
The inner meaning
Illness and guilt both ‘press down’ the person; the mantra asks for restoration of dignity and vitality, and for moral-psychic release that allows life-force to return.
The truth in it
Human flourishing depends on both vitality and reconciliation: when burdens (physical or ethical) are lifted, life can re-enter and renew.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Bhaisajya (Healing) with expiatory (Prāyaścitta) coloring
Its aim
Revival of a patient laid low by disease; removal of illness linked to offense/taint; restoration of life-force.
Word by Word
Pada patha
उत । देवाः । अव-हितम् । देवाः । उत्-नयथ । पुनः । उत । आगः । चक्रुषम् । देवाः । देवाः । जीवयथ । पुनः
- रोगनिवारणम्
- removal of disease; healingNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot रोग-निवारण (प्रातिपदिक; √वृ/√वॄ ‘वारणे’ उपसर्ग नि-)
- उत
- and; alsoand also; moreover (adding a further petition)Indeclinableअव्ययRoot उत (निपात) अथ/अपि
- देवाः
- O godsNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole KartāRoot देव (प्रातिपदिक)
- अवहितम्
- that which is laid down/kept; attended (thing)laid down, cast down; prostrated (as by sickness or collapse)Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot अवहित (कृदन्त; अव-√धा ‘स्थापने/धारणे’ → अवहित ‘placed/laid down; attended to’)
- देवाः
- O godsNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole KartāRoot देव
- उन्नयथ
- raise up; lead upVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, बहुवचन, परस्मैपदRoot उद्-√नी (नयति)
- पुनः
- again; backagain, back (restoration to prior vitality)Indeclinableअव्ययRoot पुनः (अव्यय)
- उत
- and; alsoand also (second clause)Indeclinableअव्ययRoot उत (निपात)
- आगः
- sin; offensesin, offense, fault; (also) ritual/moral taint causing illnessNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot आगस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- चक्रुषम्
- the offender; one who has done (sin)having done/committed (the offense); the one who has erredAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (कर्मणि—‘the one who has committed’)Role KarmaRoot √कृ (कृणोति) → चक्रुष् (परिपूर्ण/भूतकृदन्त ‘having done’)
- देवाः
- O godsNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole KartāRoot देव
- देवाः
- O godsNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole KartāRoot देव
- जीवयथ
- make (him) live; restore to lifemake live; restore to life (revivification)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, बहुवचन, परस्मैपदRoot √जीव् (जीवति) → caus. जीवयति
- पुनः
- again; backagain (renewed life after near-death/illness)Indeclinableअव्ययRoot पुनः (अव्यय)
Sandhi Notes
- रोगनिवारणम् | उत | देवाः | अवहितम् | देवाः | उन्नयथ | पुनः || उत | आगः | चक्रुषम् | देवाः | देवाः | जीवयथ | पुनः ।
- 1) उ॒त दे॑वा॒ः → उत + देवाः (विसर्गलोप/संहितायां)
- 2) देवा॒ अव॑हितम् → देवाः + अवहितम् (विसर्गलोप)
- 3) देवा॒ उन्न॑यथा → देवाः + उन्नयथ (विसर्गलोप; लोट् 2pl)
- 4) उ॒ताग॑श्च॒क्रुषं॑ → उत + आगः + चक्रुषम् (उत + आगः = उतागः; आगः + चक्रुषम् में विसर्गः ‘ः’ का लोप/रूपान्तर संहितायां)
- 5) देवा॒ देवा॑ → देवाः + देवाः (विसर्गलोप)
- 6) जी॒वय॑था → जीवयथ (लोट् 2pl; संहितापाठे दीर्घस्वर/स्वरचिह्न वैदिक)
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition (anukramaṇī attributions vary for AV 4.13).
- Devata
- Viśve Devāḥ (All Gods).
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh (common Atharvanic healing meter; may be slightly irregular by recension).
- Rasa
- Karuna and Shanta
Sāyaṇa reads ‘avahitam’ as one struck down by disease and ‘āgas’ as the culpable cause (sin/ritual fault) that may manifest as illness. The gods are asked both to raise the patient physically and to remit the fault by revivifying him—healing and absolution are coupled.
Atharvanic tradition (varied anukramaṇī attributions for AV 4.13)
Revival and lifting charms; healing with prāyaścitta coloring—removing fault/taint as a cause or companion of disease.
Characteristic Atharvan synthesis: sickness is treated somatically and ethically; the same divine lifting power restores both body and standing.
Viśve Devāḥ (All Gods)
Collective divine order that sustains life, corrects imbalance, and restores the fallen to participation in ṛta.
Revival from prostrating illness; reanimation of life-force; easing psychosomatic burden of guilt.
Protection from relapse and from the ‘downward pull’ of disease and blame (conceptual).
4 pādas of ~8 syllables; repetition of ‘devā devā’ and ‘punaḥ’ creates a refrain-like pulse.
Reduplicated vocatives (‘devā devā’) are typical Atharvan intensifiers and may slightly affect strict count.
Supplicatory and cyclical—‘again, again’ as a rhythmic insistence.
Creates a lifting sensation through repeated upward verbs (unnayatha, jīvayatha) and the refrain punaḥ.
Place the patient facing east; the officiant sits to the north.
Recite the mantra over the patient’s head and chest (prāṇa-seat), performing an ‘ut-nayana’ gesture: lifting the hands upward as the verb is spoken.
If illness is construed as ‘āgas’-born, add a brief expiatory act: sprinkling with water and a verbal confession/renunciation formula, then repeat ‘jīvayatha punaḥ’.
Kauśika Sūtra: healing/revival rites employing wind (vāta) and general devatā-invocation in AV 4.13 (edition-dependent placement among bhaiṣajya-karmāṇi).
Atharvan priest as reviver and expiator: coordinates gesture (lifting) with recitation; interprets illness etiology (disease vs. offense) and selects adjunct expiation.
Recited at bedside for one weakened by fever/illness; also as part of a small expiatory prayer when illness is feared to follow ‘āgas’.
At dawn and dusk; during critical low points; before administering medicine/food.
Householder or Atharvan specialist leads; family may respond on ‘punaḥ’.
KauśS: general healing and revival prayers to Viśve Devāḥ appear across therapeutic contexts (edition-dependent).
Used as a compassionate bedside chant alongside clinical care and counseling/spiritual support.
No material pharmaka named: the remedy is the totality of divine support and the verbal act of ‘lifting’—vāc as restorative force.
General debilitating illness; collapse/prostration; illness linked to offense/ritual-moral taint (āgas).
Invocation of collective divine support; ‘lifting’ and ‘reviving’ as performative commands; integrates expiatory release with somatic recovery.
Addresses ojas depletion and prāṇa disturbance; links mental burden (guilt/stress) with somatic weakness; supports sattva and recovery.
Supportive prayer/affirmation during severe fatigue, depression-like prostration, or recovery; psychosocial-spiritual care improving resilience.
Patient laid low; also one feeling guilt/taint.
Raise the collapsed patient; restore life; remove the shadow of offense that impedes recovery.
Collective deity invocation + repetitive intensification (devā devā; punaḥ) to compel reversal from down to up.
Continuing decline, despair, and the ‘binding’ effect of guilt (conceptual).
- अवहित (avahita)
- prostration by illness, depression, exhaustion
- उन्नयथ (unnayatha)
- restoration, rescue, reanimation
- आगस् (āgas)
- guilt/taint; moral-ritual obstruction to well-being
- जीवयथ (jīvayatha)
- reinfusion of prāṇa, renewal of hope
- पुनः (punaḥ)
- return, second chance, cyclical restoration
- देवाः (devāḥ)
- total supportive order—cosmic forces aligned for healing
Receiving uplift: surrendering heaviness and inviting prāṇa to return; forgiveness and release of self-blame.
Anāhata (compassion) and Sahasrāra (grace) (interpretive).
Gentle coherent breathing; on inhale ‘unnayatha’, on exhale ‘jīvayatha’; rest on ‘punaḥ’ as return.
A luminous collective presence lifting the body from a dark weight; breath returning as warm light in the chest.
Devotional receptivity; softening of contraction.
Chant quietly at bedside or internally; add a brief confession-and-release (āgas let go) followed by resting in gratitude.
Keep retroflex ṇ in उन्नयथ (unnayatha) if your tradition retroflexes in sandhi contexts; otherwise articulate double n clearly.; Pronounce āgas with long ā (ā-gas).; Do not clip visarga in devāḥ at line ends.
Supplicatory udātta on ‘devāḥ’; emphasize upward motion on ‘unnayatha’; soften on ‘jīvayatha’ as life-breath returns.
Make ‘devā devā’ a double-call; slight pause before ‘punaḥ’ each time to mark ‘return’.
Gentle, compassionate, steady; suitable for bedside.
Effective responsorially: leader chants the line, family repeats ‘punaḥ’ as a refrain of return.
Severe fatigue, prolonged illness, recovery after hospitalization; also when illness is accompanied by guilt or fear of ‘fault’.
At bedside morning/evening; before sleep; during moments of discouragement.
Emotional support, hope, and a felt ‘lifting’; traditional framing for recovery and reconciliation.
If guilt is intense or linked to mental health crisis, seek professional support; continue medical treatment for illness.
No plant is invoked; the therapeutic mechanism is social-theological: divine ‘lifting’ and ‘reviving’ counteract collapse. The mantra is compatible with adjunct substances (water, amulets), but its core is a performative restoration of prāṇa.
Illness is partly moralized (‘āgas’), placing the patient within a regime of ritual accountability. The priest mediates between human fault and divine remediation, reinforcing priestly interpretive authority over causation and cure.
The diction is broadly Vedic, but the Atharvanic pragmatic pairing of ‘avahita’ (collapsed) with ‘jīvayatha’ (revive) foregrounds clinical states (prostration, near-death) more than typical Rigvedic praise contexts.
Gopatha’s Atharvanic hermeneutic often treats mantras as direct instruments (kriyā-śabda). Here, ‘ut nayatha’ functions as a speech-act mirrored by gesture, producing efficacy through correspondence between utterance and action.
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