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 VII IN FOCUS
To Indra: for aid
O Indra, with abundant best possible aids, O generous hero, quicken us today; whoever hates us, may he fall downward; and whom we hate, him let breath quit.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read VII.31 (32) at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK VII ALSO CITED
To Agni: against enemies
Read comparison hymn VII.34 (35) (1 verse)
O Agni, thrust forth my rivals that are born; thrust back, O Jātavedas, those unborn; put underfoot those that want to fight [me]; may we be guiltless for thee unto Aditi.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read VII.34 (35) at Wikisource ↗
Divine aid comes before the hostile pair
The opening requests great, plentiful aid from Indra. Only after claiming divine support does the verse name human hostility. This order gives the speakers' side a powerful ally before the rival is introduced, as though Indra's help were the premise from which the social result should follow. The short poem offers no narrative of an attack and no way to test the rival's motive. Its adversary exists wholly through the speakers' description. The verse is thus a forceful plea within a conflict, not a neutral account of that conflict. The requested scale of help also exceeds the single interpersonal dispute that the closing lines might suggest.
Who hates whom changes the result
Two relative clauses point in opposite directions: whoever hates us, and whoever is hated by us. They need not designate two people, but the grammar covers both positions. The first target is imagined falling down; the second is to lose breath. The progression intensifies the threat rather than merely restating it. Crucially, the speakers' own hatred is enough to put someone under the second imprecation. A soothing paraphrase about self-defense would conceal that harder line. The poem's morality is not debated within the verse; it assumes that Indra can be asked to favor the speakers even when the speakers themselves harbor hostility.
A line moves between collections
Whitney identifies VII.31 as a version of Rigveda III.53.21 with a small variant. The shared verse therefore traveled beyond one Atharvan setting. Its presence in the Rigveda does not turn the Atharvavedic use into the same performance, however; texts acquire new associations when placed beside other hymns. Whitney does not find this verse in Pāippalāda, which limits any claim that every Atharvavedic witness carried it in this location. Later Kauśikasūtra usage groups VII.31 with VII.34 and VII.108 in a rite directed against enemies. That grouping is evidence for reception, not a missing instruction embedded in the old one-verse poem.
Compare a different way of pushing rivals down
VII.34 asks Agni to thrust out born rivals, hold back unborn ones, and put fighters beneath the speaker's feet. VII.31 has neither a fire address nor a division between present and future opponents. Its organizing principle is the direction of hatred. Both texts picture an enemy brought lower, but they sort threats differently. Reading them together prevents the shared downward motion from flattening their logic. A contemporary working labeled after VII.31 would be a new adaptation; the ancient verse is a verbal demand whose outcome is unknown. The source does not supply evidence that any named opponent actually lost breath or standing.
WORKED READING
The two directions of hatred
Compare the end of VII.31 with VII.34.1. In VII.31, the one who hates the speakers falls, while the one they hate loses breath. In VII.34, already born rivals are expelled while unborn rivals are checked. One classification is relational; the other is temporal. Both seek to bring a challenger down. That contrast makes the internal turn of VII.31 visible: the verse does not simply repeat an enemy formula, but widens the claim of divine support to cover the speaker's own hostility. The second clause in VII.31 prevents a simple innocence story: the speakers openly include someone they themselves hate.