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
Let this Indra, well-saving, well-aiding, keep far away apart from us any hatred; may we be in the favor of him the worshipful, also in his excellent well-willing.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read VII.92 (97) at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK VII ALSO CITED
To Indra: for aid
Read comparison hymn VII.91 (96) (1 verse)
Let Indra be well-saving, well-aiding with aids, very gracious, all-possessing; let him put down (bādh) hatred, let him make for us fearlessness; may we be lords of wealth in heroes.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read VII.91 (96) at Wikisource ↗
Distance carries the central argument
The first request is that Indra keep hatred separated from the speakers. Hatred is treated almost as something that can be placed in space, removed beyond reach. The line does not identify a particular hater, an attack, or a social settlement. This openness makes the verse applicable to many conflicts, but it also limits what can be inferred about its setting. The speaker asks for distance from an adverse force, not for the destruction of a named person. That is an important difference from nearby enemy verses that specify falling, burning, or lost breath. Here safety is imagined by managing proximity.
Favor must come close while hatred goes away
The second half asks to be in the worshipful Indra's favor and excellent goodwill. The hymn is therefore not only a negative wish to remove trouble. It makes a positive placement: the speakers want a close relation with their protector. The two directions balance each other. Hatred should be remote; divine well-willing should be present. This paired geometry explains why the verse can sit in a cluster of welfare texts even though it speaks of hostility. It seeks a condition in which the community's relation to Indra defines its safety, rather than a narrated victory over an opponent.
Inverted halves show a mobile verse
Whitney notes that other Vedic texts reverse the order of the two half-verses. In one arrangement the verse may begin with favor and end by distancing hatred; in the Śaunaka order it begins with the danger and ends in goodwill. That is a real difference in rhetorical movement, though the same two claims survive. His note also says this and its neighboring verses are absent from Pāippalāda. Neither fact authorizes a confident account of the verse's single original arrangement. The textual record is enough to compare emphases, but too uneven to assign one timeless performance sequence to every recension.
The preceding verse asks for a broader result
VII.91 likewise calls Indra well-saving and well-aiding, but adds that he should put hatred down, produce fearlessness, and make the speakers rich in heroic supporters. VII.92 is more compact and more relational: it pairs distance from hate with proximity to favor. Later grouping with VII.91 in ritual use shows their affinity, while their wording remains distinct. A modern spell that treats 'keeping hatred away' as a social practice would be a new adaptation, not an ancient method guaranteed to change another's feelings. The source preserves what a worshiping voice wanted from Indra, without verifying either the cause or the outcome.
WORKED READING
A worked comparison
Read VII.92 beside VII.91. Both praise Indra as a helpful protector. VII.91 asks him to subdue hatred and make fearlessness, then seeks wealth in supporters; VII.92 simply sends hatred far off and places the speakers within Indra's goodwill. Now reverse VII.92's halves as the other witnesses do. The petition begins in favor and ends in removal instead. That small editorial comparison shows how order can affect the reader's first impression without inventing a new doctrine or an effect that the text never reports. Because the two halves can change order, favor and distance function as paired claims rather than a fixed stepwise rite.