Sukta 127
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (exact r̥ṣi not specified in the provided input; commonly anonymous in AV medical charms)
Devata: Oṣadhi/Vanaspati (medicinal plant as deity-like agent); secondarily the expulsion of Yakṣma and allied diseases
Chandas: Mixed/irregular (medical charms often show non-R̥gvedic regularity; exact meter requires full pada-count verification)
Mantras
Mantra 1
यक्ष्मनाशनम्। वि॒द्र॒धस्य॑ ब॒लास॑स्य॒ लोहि॑तस्य वनस्पते । वि॒सल्प॑कस्योषधे॒ मोच्छि॑षः पिशि॒तं च॒न
A charm for the slaying of Yakṣma. Of abscess, of balāsa-phlegm, of the red disorder, O Lord of the Forest—of visalpaka, O Herb—leave thou no remnant, no flesh at all.
Mantra 2
यौ ते॑ बलास॒ तिष्ठ॑तः॒ कक्षे॑ मु॒ष्कावप॑श्रितौ । वेदा॒हं तस्य॑ भेष॒जं ची॒पुद्रु॑रभि॒चक्ष॑णम्
Those two of thine, O Balāsa, that stand fast—lodged in the armpit, clinging to the testicles—I know the remedy thereof: Cīpudru, of manifest and searching virtue.
Mantra 3
यो अङ्ग्यो॒ यः कर्ण्यो॒ यो अ॒क्ष्योर्वि॒सल्प॑कः । वि वृ॑हामो वि॒सल्प॑कं विद्र॒धं हृ॑दयाम॒यम्। परा॒ तमज्ञा॑तं॒ यक्ष्म॑मध॒राञ्चं॑ सुवामसि
What visalpaka is in the limbs, what in the ears, what in the eyes—we tear away the visalpaka, the abscess, the heart-sickness. That unknown Yakṣma we drive far off, downward do we send it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yakṣma is a wasting, lingering disease-category in Atharvavedic medicine, often treated as a harmful force that must be expelled—especially when it is ‘unknown’ (ajñāta) or hidden in the body.
In the Atharvaveda, medicinal plants are personified as living healers whose power can be invoked by mantra; the herb is treated as an agent that searches out illness and removes it.
The hymn combines (1) naming and locating the disorder, (2) activating a specific remedy (cīpudru), and (3) a forceful ‘tearing out’ and banishing of disease—sending it downward and far away so it cannot remain or return.
Ask anything about Sukta 127 of the Atharva Veda
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.