Sukta 14
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition
Devata: Bheṣaja/Healing power (implicit); the addressed force is the expulsion-command against Balāsa
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh
اے وی ۶.14 ایک مختصر اتھرون شفا بخش منتر ہے جو بلاس کو ہڈیوں، جوڑوں، اعضاء اور حتیٰ کہ دل کے علاقے میں گھسا ہوا اور ڈھیلا کرنے والی بیماری کے طور پر نشانہ بناتا ہے۔ تین انوشٹبھ آیتوں میں یہ پہلے اس تکلیف کی نشاندہی کرتا ہے، پھر اس کے بندھن اور جڑ کو کاٹ کر اسے جڑ سے اکھاڑ پھینکنے کا حکم دیتا ہے، اور آخر میں اسے کمزور اور بے ضرر بنا کر اس طرح بھگا دیتا ہے کہ وہ واپس نہ آ سکے۔
Kind of charm
Mantras
Mantra 1
बलासनाशनम्। अ॒स्थि॒स्रं॒सं प॑रुस्रं॒समास्थि॑तं हृदयाम॒यम्। ब॒लासं॒ सर्वं॑ नाशयाङ्गे॒ष्ठा यश्च॒ पर्व॑सु
ہڈیوں کو ڈھیلا کرنے والا، جوڑوں کو ڈھیلا کرنے والا، جو دل کی بیماری کے طور پر بیٹھا ہے, تو اس پورے بلاس کو تباہ کر، چاہے وہ اعضاء میں ہو یا جوڑوں میں۔
Mantra 2
निर्ब॒लासं॑ बला॒सिनः॑ क्षि॒णोमि॑ मुष्क॒रं य॑था । छि॒नद्म्य॑स्य॒ बन्ध॑नं॒ मूल॑मुर्वा॒र्वा इ॑व
بلاسا دور ہو! جس میں بلاسا ہے، میں اسے اس طرح ختم کرتا ہوں جیسے کوئی مسکرا اگاؤت کو ختم کرتا ہے۔ میں اس کا بندھن کاٹتا ہوں، میں اس کی جڑ کاٹتا ہوں، جیسے کوئی اروارو بیل کو کاٹتا ہے۔
Mantra 3
निर्ब॑लासे॒तः प्र प॑ताशु॒ङ्गः शि॑शु॒को य॑था । अथो॒ इट॑ इव हाय॒नोप॑ द्रा॒ह्यवी॑रहा
بلاسا سے آزاد ہو کر اڑ جا - بھدا ہوا، ایک چھوٹے بچے کی طرح۔ اور ایک تیر کی طرح، گزرنے والے سال کی طرح، نیچے سرک کر دور ہو جا، اے بے یار و مددگار۔
Inside Sukta 14
How it unfolds
- How it opens
Begins by naming balāsa as a loosening affliction—bone- and joint-disrupting—also seated as a heart-disease, and commands its destruction wherever it stands.
- What it asks
Total eradication: expel balāsa from the bearer, consume it, and remove it from limbs and joints without remainder.
- Where its power lies
Efficacy is asserted through surgical metaphors—cutting the bond and root—and through forceful imperatives of banishment that render the agent blunt and ineffectual.
- How it closes
Concludes with a final driving-away formula: balāsa is sent off like a passing year and declared ‘avīrahā’—one that kills no heroes—sealing harmless departure.
Famous verses
balāsaṃ sarvaṃ nāśaya
chinadmy asya bandhanaṃ mūlam urvārveva
avīrahā
Kind of hymn
Bhaisajya (Healing)
What it is for
Removal of balāsa and related loosening/painful conditions in bones and joints; neutralization of a heart-seated disorder; prevention of relapse by ‘cutting the bond and root.’
Who it is for
Atharvanic healer/priest (bhaiṣajya-kartṛ) treating a patient with joint/bone looseness, wasting/phlegmatic symptoms, or persistent internal pain attributed to balāsa.
Also used as
- Shantika (pacificatory removal of affliction)
- Raksha/Apotropaic (protective banishment)
The deity
Not a single anthropomorphic deity but the Atharvavedic healing-force (bheṣaja) activated through command-formulae; balāsa is treated as a tenacious morbid presence that binds, roots, and inhabits joints and the heart-region.
Powers of the deity
- Diagnoses and names the morbid agent to gain ritual control
- Severs the disease’s ‘bandhana’ (binding) and ‘mūla’ (root) to prevent recurrence
- Drives the affliction away from limbs, joints, and vital center (hṛdaya)
- Renders the disease powerless (aśuṅga) and non-lethal (avīrahā)
- Apotropaic protection by banishment rather than propitiation
Why the deity is called
To expel balāsa from the patient’s body—especially musculoskeletal looseness and heart-seated distress—by uprooting its cause and compelling it to depart weakened and unable to harm.
The seer
- Atharvan (Atharvanic tradition; anukramaṇī attribution varies)Atharvan. Bhaiṣajya charms and apotropaic expulsions of disease-agents (roga/bhūta), especially by imperative speech-acts that ‘cut’ bonds and ‘uproot’ recurring illness
Other hymns of this seer
- AV 6.13 (balāsa-related healing, adjacent sequence)
- AV 6.16 (healing/expulsion style charm in the same kanda cluster)
- AV 2.33 (bhaisajya-type expulsion of disease; Atharvanic healing idiom)
Preparing for the rite
- Seat the patient facing east or toward the household fire (as customary in Atharvanic healing settings).
- Establish intent by naming the ailment (balāsa) and the affected sites (limbs/joints/heart-region).
- If using a cutting-symbol (optional), ready a small blade, darbha edge, or a twig used as a ritual ‘cutter’ to accompany the ‘cut the bond/root’ language.
The rite
- Recite 6.14.1 while touching or gesturing toward the afflicted limbs/joints and the chest/heart area, identifying the disease as ‘bone-loosening’ and ‘joint-loosening.’
- Recite 6.14.2 with a decisive cutting gesture (symbolic severing) to ‘cut its bond’ and ‘hew its root,’ using the uṛvārū-vine severing as the model.
- Recite 6.14.3 as a banishment: gesture outward/downward (sending-away motion) so the disease ‘flies forth’ and ‘creeps away,’ declared blunted and harmless.
What it needs
- No required substances are explicit in the text
- Optional: a symbolic cutter (knife/darbha edge) aligned with छिनद्मि (‘I cut’)
- Optional exemplar: uṛvārū (gourd/cucumber vine) as a demonstrative model for severing
When
As needed at onset of symptoms or during an acute flare; ideally performed in a calm, controlled setting before activity that stresses joints.
Herbs
- uṛvārū (gourd/cucumber vine) (as simile/optional ritual exemplar)
- muṣkara (plant/growth named as an analogue for ‘consuming’ the disease; exact botanical ID varies in scholarship)
Frequently Asked Questions
Balāsa is treated as a disease-agent that causes loosening and disorder in bones and joints and can also lodge as distress in the heart-region. The hymn addresses it as something to be commanded out, not appeased.
It uses strong metaphors of surgery and uprooting: the illness is imagined as bound to the patient and rooted in them. By ‘cutting’ the bond and ‘hewing’ the root, the charm aims to prevent the disease from returning.
The verses do not mandate a substance. They rely primarily on the spoken expulsion; however, the imagery of uṛvārū-vine severing and “consuming” a muṣkara-growth can be paired with simple symbolic gestures or exemplars in practice.
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