तद् अभिमृशेद् अनु वा मन्त्रयेत यत् मे अद्य रेतः पृथिवीम् अस्कान्त्सीद् यत् ओषधीः अपि असरद् यत् अपः इदम् अहम् तद् रेतः आददे पुनर् माम् ऐतु इन्द्रियं पुनः तेजः पुनः भगः पुनः अग्निः धिष्ण्या यथास्थानं कल्पन्ताम् इति अनामिकाङ्गुष्ठाभ्याम् आदाय अन्तरेण स्तनौ वा भ्रुवौ वा निमृज्यात्
tad abhimṛśed anu vā mantrayeta yat me adya retaḥ pṛthivīm askāntsīd yat oṣadhīḥ api asarad yat apaḥ idam aham tad retaḥ ādade punar mām aitu indriyaṃ punaḥ tejaḥ punaḥ bhagaḥ punaḥ agniḥ dhiṣṇyā yathāsthānaṃ kalpantām iti anāmikāṅguṣṭhābhyām ādāya antareṇa stanau vā bhruvau vā nimṛjyāt
— let him touch it, or speak over it: "My seed that has fallen today on the earth, that has flowed into the plants and into the waters — I take it back: let strength return to me, let brightness return, let fortune return! Let the hearth-fires stand again in their places!" — and taking it with the ring finger and the thumb, let him wipe it between his breast and his brows.
f3969fd0c951 · published Jul 27, 2026, 1:28:05 AM UTC
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A mantra of recovery: an involuntary emission is neither wept over nor hushed up — a word is spoken over it: punar mām aitv indriyam — "let strength, brightness and fortune return to me". A loss is reversed by speech and gesture: the essence is called back by name, like a recalled messenger.
The psychology of the rite is deep: a bodily failure is not left to rot in shame — it is met liturgically, and dignity is restored by an action. The Veda knows no downfalls for which there is no mantra: everything that befalls a man can be returned into the ranks of the sacred — such is the general law of this last and most homely of the brāhmaṇas.