Atharva Veda 19.21.1: Kanda 19, Anuvaka 3, Sukta 21, Mantra 1
Sukta 21
छन्दांसि। गा॒य॒त्र्यु॑१ष्णिग॑नु॒ष्टुब् बृ॑ह॒ती प॒ङ्क्तिस्त्रि॒ष्टुब् जग॑त्यै
chándāṃsi | gāyatrī́ uṣṇík anuṣṭúb bṛhatī́ paṅktís triṣṭúb jágatī́ íti
The metres: Gāyatrī, Uṣṇih, Anuṣṭubh, Bṛhatī, Paṅkti, Triṣṭubh, Jagatī—thus.
诸韵律：伽耶特丽（Gāyatrī）、乌什尼赫（Uṣṇih）、阿努什图布（Anuṣṭubh）、布里哈蒂（Bṛhatī）、潘克蒂（Paṅkti）、特里什图布（Triṣṭubh）、伽伽蒂（Jagatī）——如是。
The meaning
What it says
A liturgical enumeration of the principal Vedic metres (chandas): Gāyatrī, Uṣṇih, Anuṣṭubh, Bṛhatī, Paṅkti, Triṣṭubh, Jagatī.
The inner meaning
Metres are cognitive containers: naming them aligns speech, breath, and attention. The list functions as a mental ‘inventory’ ensuring nothing is missing—completeness reduces ritual anxiety and instability.
The truth in it
Form is power: structured rhythm stabilizes meaning and community memory. When speech is well-formed, it becomes a reliable vehicle for intention and healing.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Liturgical/Pariśiṣṭa-like (Metre-invocation; ritual correctness)
Its aim
To invoke/acknowledge the chandas as efficacious powers, ensuring completeness and stability of the rite and its protective speech.
Word by Word
Pada patha
छन्दांसि । गायत्री । उष्णिक् । अनुष्टुप् । बृहती । पङ्क्तिः । त्रिष्टुप् । जगती । इति
- छन्दांसि
- meters (Vedic poetic metres)meters (as protective/formative powers of sacred speech)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया; बहुवचनRole KartāRoot छन्दस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- गायत्री
- Gāyatrī (metre)Gāyatrī meter (often protective; associated with breath and vitality)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole KartāRoot गायत्री (प्रातिपदिक)
- उष्णिक्
- Uṣṇik (metre)Uṣṇih meter (a metrical form; invoked as a power)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole KartāRoot उष्णिक् (प्रातिपदिक)
- अनुष्टुप्
- Anuṣṭubh (metre)Anuṣṭubh meter (common charm-meter; compact efficacy)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole KartāRoot अनुष्टुप् (प्रातिपदिक)
- बृहती
- Bṛhatī (metre)Bṛhatī meter (expansive; ‘great’ protective speech-form)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole KartāRoot बृहती (प्रातिपदिक)
- पङ्क्तिः
- Paṅkti (metre)Paṅkti meter (fivefold; structuring completeness)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole KartāRoot पङ्क्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
- त्रिष्टुप्
- Triṣṭubh (metre)Triṣṭubh meter (strong, martial cadence; warding power)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole KartāRoot त्रिष्टुप् (प्रातिपदिक)
- जगती
- Jagatī (metre)Jagatī meter (moving/extended; encompassing form)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole KartāRoot जगती (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: छन्दांसि | गायत्री | उष्णिक् | अनुष्टुप् | बृहती | पङ्क्तिः | त्रिष्टुप् | जगती । पाठे 'गायत्र्यु॑१ष्णिग॑नु॒ष्टुब्' इति संहितारूपे दीर्घ-संधि/लोप-प्रवृत्त्या एकस्मिन् खण्डे दृश्यते
- वस्तुतः सूची-समास/अनुक्रम-शैलीया गणना—अत्र क्रियापदं नास्ति, सर्वे प्रथमा-एकवचन-रूपेण छन्दोनामानि (छन्दांसि इति शीर्ष-बहुवचनम्) निर्दिश्यन्ते। अन्ते 'जगत्यै' इति दत्तपाठः अपेक्षितः, किन्तु अत्र मन्त्रपाठे 'जगती' (प्रथमा) दृश्यते
- यदि 'जगत्यै' पठ्येत तर्हि तत् स्त्रीलिङ्ग-दत्तिव-एकवचन (सम्प्रदान) स्यात्।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Notionally Atharvanic/technical (often unattributed in a personal r̥ṣi sense)
- Devata
- Chandas (the meters personified/collectivized)
- Chandas
- List-form (not a single meter; meta-liturgical)
- Rasa
- Shanta and Adbhuta
Sāyaṇa treats the enumeration of chandas as a liturgical-technical statement: meters are not mere form but powers (śakti) of mantra. Listing them can function as a compact invocation of the totality of Vedic speech-forms, useful for securing completeness and correctness in recitation.
Atharvanic technical tradition (anonymous)
Chandas-vidyā and ritual correctness; meta-liturgical speech used to secure efficacy and completeness of rites.
Treats metre itself as a protective power: correct form is a safeguard against ritual ‘leakage’ and misfire—an Atharvan concern in domestic magic.
Chandas (metres personified/collectivized)
Metres order the cosmos through ordered speech; they are the ‘skeleton’ on which mantra-body stands.
Indirect: stabilizes breath and mind; supports therapeutic chanting by providing reliable rhythmic regulation.
Prevents ritual fault (doṣa) and dispersal of intention; acts as a correctness-charm.
List-form / meta-liturgical (not a single operative metre)
Enumeration with minimal syntax; functions as a mnemonic catalogue.
Pariśiṣṭa-like technical insertion within Saṃhitā style; late cadence.
Mnemonic, bead-like; each name is a ‘count’ rather than a verse.
Centers attention; prepares the voice/breath apparatus for subsequent mantras by invoking the metrical powers.
Recite the list before or after a protective sequence to ‘secure’ the mantra-forms.
The priest may touch the mouth or the recitation ladle/cord to mark speech as the operative instrument.
Proceed to the main karman, treating the chandas as having been ritually ‘installed’.
Kauśika Sūtra: ancillary recitations for ensuring chandas/recitation correctness (often used as preliminaries or stabilizers; exact citation varies by edition).
Brahman/Atharvan as liturgical regulator: ensures metrical integrity and thereby the efficacy (siddhi) of the rite.
Used as a preface before a sequence of chants to ensure ‘metrical completeness’ and confidence in recitation.
At the start of a rite or study session.
Reciter/ācārya leads; students or household repeat.
As a short opening ‘alignment’ before chanting sessions or mantra-japa.
chandas (meter) as a ritual power-category
Metre is treated as a subtle substance—an architecture that makes vāc inhabitable and effective.
Speech-therapy style warm-up: rhythmic naming to prime articulation and breath pacing.
To invoke/acknowledge the chandas as efficacious powers ensuring completeness, stability, and correctness of the rite.
Naming-as-activation; mnemonic completeness charm (saṃgraha) to ‘include all’ metrical supports.
Ritual error, loss of efficacy, instability of recitation.
- छन्दांसि (chandāṃsi)
- structuring principles; protective ‘frames’ that hold potent speech
- गायत्री (gāyatrī)
- clarity, morning light, concise potency
- उष्णिक् (uṣṇik)
- warmth/expansion; energizing cadence
- अनुष्टुप् (anuṣṭubh)
- everyday speech-power; domestic accessibility
- बृहती (bṛhatī)
- breadth, protection through largeness
- त्रिष्टुप्/जगती (triṣṭubh/jagatī)
- public/heroic scope; world-supporting rhythm
Attention to rhythmic form: each metre-name as a breath-count bead.
Vishuddha (speech center)
One slow inhale/exhale per metre-name, keeping the voice even and unstrained.
Seven luminous bands around the throat/heart representing the metres as protective rings.
Ordered clarity (saṃyama on vāc).
Use as a 2–3 minute vocal warm-up before longer Atharvanic recitations; keep tone neutral and precise.
Even, mnemonic recitation; treat each item as a separate beat.
Slight stress on the first syllable of each metre-name; keep pace consistent.
Clear, instructional, unornamented.
Useful as a ‘reset’ if recitation feels unstable; re-establishes the frame of chandas before proceeding.
Beginning a chanting practice; worry about correctness; preparing for a protective/healing rite.
At the start of a session; before teaching/learning recitation; before complex Atharvanic sequences.
Greater steadiness of voice and attention; reduced performance anxiety; improved rhythmic consistency.
Avoid over-intellectualizing during healing rites—use it briefly, then move into the main mantra.
None; this is a meta-liturgical verse. Its ‘substance’ is formal: chandas themselves are treated as efficacious structures that stabilize ritual speech.
It foregrounds specialist knowledge: mastery of meters is a marker of priestly competence. The verse encodes a professional taxonomy that distinguishes trained ritualists from lay participants.
The verse is classificatory rather than hymnic—an innovation toward scholastic enumeration. Such list-style material aligns with later Vedic systematization and Atharvanic technical corpora.
Gopatha frequently treats chandas as ontic supports of brahman; correct metrical form is not ornamental but causal. An enumeration like this can be read as invoking the total ‘frame’ within which mantras operate effectively.
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