THE TEXT · ATHARVAVEDA
Hymns discussed in this article
Begin with the verses shown here. Open the other cited hymns to compare their images and aims.
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK V IN FOCUS
Against witchcraft
What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in a raw vessel, what they have made in one of mixed grains; in raw flesh what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.
What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in a cock, or what in a kurī́ra-wearing goat; in a ewe what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.
What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in the one-hoofed, in the one with teeth in both jaws, among cattle; in a donkey what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.
What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in a rootless [plant], or [what] secret spell (? valagá) in a narācī́; in thy field what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.
Read the remaining 8 verses of V.31
What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in the householder's fire, also, malevolent (duçcít), in the eastern fire; in the dwelling what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.
What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in the assembly (sabhá), what they have made at the gambling-board; in the dice what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.
What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in the army (sénā), what they have made in arrow-and-weapon; in the drum what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.
What witchcraft they have put down for thee in the well, or have dug in at the cemetery; in the seat (sádman) what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.
What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in the human-bone, and what in the destroying (? sáṁkasuka) fire, [what] dimming, out-burning, flesh-eating one—I take that back again.
He hath brought it by what was not the road; we send it forth from here by the road; he unwise, O men, hath brought [it] together, out of thoughtlessness, for the wise (dhī́ra).
He who hath made hath not been able to make; he hath crushed a foot, a finger; he, fortuneless, hath made what is excellent for us [who are] fortunate ones.
The witchcraft-maker, spell-hider, root-possessor, worthy of cursing—let Indra smite him with his great deadly weapon; let Agni pierce him with a hurled [arrow].
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read V.31 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK IV ALSO CITED
Against various evils: with a plant
Read comparison hymn IV.17 (8 verses)
Thee, the mistress of remedies, O conquering one (ujjeṣá), we take hold of; I have made thee a thing of thousand-fold energy (-vīryà) for every one, O herb.
The truly-conquering, the curse-repelling, the overcoming, the reverted one (punaḥsará)—all the herbs have I called together, saying "may they (?) save us from this."
She that hath cursed with cursing, that hath taken malignity as her root, that hath seized on [our] young to take [its] sap—let her eat [her own] offspring.
What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in the raw vessel (pā́tra), what they have made in the blue-red one, in raw flesh what witchcraft they have made—with that do thou smite the witchcraft-makers.
Evil-dreaming, evil-living, demon, monster (abhvà), hags, all the ill-named (f.), ill-voiced—them we make disappear from us.
Death by hunger, death by thirst, kinelessness, childlessness—through thee, O off-wiper (apāmārgá), we wipe off all that.
Death by thirst, death by hunger, likewise defeat at dice—through thee, O off-wiper, we wipe off all that.
The off-wiper is indeed of all herbs the sole controller (vaçín); with it we wipe [off] what has befallen (ā́sthita) thee; then do thou go about free from disease.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read IV.17 at Wikisource ↗
Suspicion begins with containers and bodies
The first verse names a raw vessel, mixed grains, and raw flesh. The next moves through cock, goat, ewe, and other animals, while verse 4 mentions a rootless plant and a field. These are not interchangeable substances. They let the speaker imagine hostile intent carried by food, living creatures, and cultivated land. Every unit ends by taking the supposed witchcraft back. The refrain makes each new hiding place part of the same problem without establishing that such a working was actually present there. Whitney’s note to verse 4 marks the meaning of one secret spell term uncertain, a reminder that the specificity of the catalog does not make every object transparent.
The map enters household and institution
Verse 5 names both household fire and another ritual fire, then the dwelling itself. Verse 6 enters the assembly and gambling board, while verse 7 goes to the army, weapons, and drum. This is a striking social sweep: private home, formal gathering, play or risk, and organized conflict. The repeated concern about concealed harm follows the speaker wherever people cooperate or compete. It also marks places where trust is vulnerable. A hidden threat in a home would violate shelter; one in an assembly would contaminate deliberation; one in a drum would taint a collective military signal. The hymn uses place to articulate fear of influence at work inside normal social practices.
The final verses turn the search into a route
The well and cemetery appear in verse 8, and the ninth mentions bone and a destructive fire, though Whitney warns that its wording is uncertain. Verse 10 then changes grammatical gear. An adversary has allegedly brought the thing by a wrong route; the speaker sends it out along a proper route. The catalog of hiding places becomes a travel problem, with direction now offered as the answer. Verse 11 derides the maker as unsuccessful, and verse 12 calls on Indra and Agni against a spell-hider. The ending is more personally accusatory than the repeated inventory. The poem shifts from asking where harm might be lodged to imagining who should bear it.
An earlier parallel is more compact
IV.17.4 already mentions a raw vessel, a colored object, and raw flesh, but asks the addressed plant to strike the alleged makers. V.31.1 develops a similar list and makes return the refrain of a much longer survey. Whitney says almost all of V.31 lacks a Pāippalāda parallel; only verse 12 is found there. That limits any claim that its twelve-part map was stable across recensions. The comparison with IV.17 shows a shared concern about concealed material forms, while also showing what V.31 adds: repetition extended across homes, public institutions, battle gear, and marginal places. The modern phrase home or assembly captures only two stops on this itinerary.
WORKED READING
From dwelling to assembly
Read V.31.5 and V.31.6 in order. The fifth verse searches the fires and dwelling; the sixth moves to assembly, gaming board, and dice. The refrain stays constant while the setting changes from household to public association. Compare IV.17.4, which concentrates on a few suspected material carriers rather than surveying social spaces. V.31’s method is cumulative: by repeating the response in each setting, it makes a single imagined counteraction cover a widening geography of uncertainty. The move to dice in verse six places suspicion amid exchange and play, beyond the domestic fire searched in the preceding line.