Atharva Veda 18.2.39: Kanda 18, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 2, Mantra 39

Sukta 2

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

प्रेमां मात्रां॑ मिमीमहे॒ यथाप॑रं॒ न मासा॑तै । श॒ते श॒रत्सु॒ नो पु॒रा

IAST Transliteration

prémā́ṃ mā́trāṃ mimīmahe yáthā́paraṃ ná mā́sātai | śaté śáratsu no purā́

English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)

Forth this measure we do mete, that it be not thereafter spent in months: a hundred autumns—so for us, as in the days of old.

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Word by Word

• प्रेमाम्: love, affection (as the object)
• प्रेमाम्: कर्म
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रेमा- (प्रातिपदिक; प्रेमन्/प्रेमन्-सम्बद्ध)

• मात्राम्: measure, portion
• मात्राम्: कर्म
• Type: Noun
• Root: मात्रा- (प्रातिपदिक)

• मिमीमहे: we measure / we apportion
• मिमीमहे: (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √मा (माने/मिमीत् ‘to measure’)

• यथा: so that, as
• यथा: (सम्बन्ध/उपमान-निर्देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)

• अपरम्: the later/other (one)
• अपरम्: कर्म (विशेष्य-सम्बद्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अपर- (प्रातिपदिक)

• न: not
• न: (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)

• मासातै: in a month / by a month (within a month)
• मासातै: अधिकारण (काल) / करण (काल-निर्देश)
• Type: Noun/Adjective
• Root: मासाति- (प्रातिपदिक; ‘मास’ + -आति/आतय्-प्रत्यय, ‘monthly/within a month’)

• शते: in a hundred
• शते: अधिकारण (काल-परिमाण)
• Type: Numeral/Adjective
• Root: शत- (प्रातिपदिक)

• शरत्सु: in (many) autumns/years
• शरत्सु: अधिकारण (काल)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरद्- (प्रातिपदिक)

• नः: for us / our
• नः: सम्प्रदाने/सम्बन्धे
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्- (सर्वनाम)

• पुरा: formerly, before
• पुरा: अधिकारण (काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुरा (अव्यय)

Attribution

Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (funerary/āyuṣya complex of AV 18; r̥ṣi attribution varies by anukramaṇī traditions)

Devata: Āyus (Longevity) / the impersonal life-measure (mātrā) as efficacious principle

Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (11+?; late Atharvanic cadence; refrain-like pāda structure)

Mantra Rasa

Primary: shanta

Secondary: adbhuta