Rig Veda 2.28.6: Mandala 2, Sukta 28, Mantra 6
Sukta 2.28
अपो सु म्यक्ष वरुण भियसं मत्सम्राळृतावोऽनु मा गृभाय । दामेव वत्साद्वि मुमुग्ध्यंहो नहि त्वदारे निमिषश्चनेशे ॥
ápo su myakṣa varuṇa bhiyásaṃ mat samrā́ḷ ṛtā́vo 'ánu mā gṛbhāya | dā́meva vatsā́d ví mumugdhy áṃho náhi tvád āré ni-míṣaś canéśe ||
اطرد عنّي الخوف، يا فَرُونَة، أيها الملك السيّد؛ ولا تقبض عليّ في أثر «رِتا». وكما يُطلَق العِجل من حبله، كذلك أطلِق عنّي كربَ الخطأ؛ فبدونك، ولو لَمْحَةً، لا يملك المتألّم سلطانًا.
Prayer for release from fear and constriction; expiation and reassurance under Varuṇa’s sovereignty
Fear as contraction (aṃhas/bhiyas), Divine sovereignty (samrāṭ) as inner mastery, Ṛta as a path/track (anu)
Varuṇa is asked not to seize the seeker ‘along Ṛta’—i.e., let Ṛta be a guiding track, not a punitive trap.
Truth grants mastery; separation from truth even briefly yields helplessness.
Life as guided movement on a track (anu…ṛtāvaḥ); wrong creates constriction.
Yogic ethic: mastery arises from alignment, not repression; anticipates later dharma-as-support view.
The tether is conditioning; the calf is the growing inner being; release is the opening of prāṇa and mind from fear-tightness into truthful movement.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Varuṇa as binder/unbinder: he can seize (gṛbh) but also release (mumugdhi). The calf-from-rope image encodes liberation of the vulnerable life-force from constricting aṃhas (anguish/sin), transforming punitive fear into trust in the sovereign of ṛta.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- bhī- ‘fear’ has clear IE cognacy (PIE *bʰeyh₂-). The semantic of aṃhas as ‘narrowing’ aligns with an archaic metaphor: suffering as constriction, liberation as widening—common across IE poetics.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The ṛṣi confesses helplessness ‘even for a moment’ without Varuṇa; the devatā is both judge and savior. The relationship is remedial: the seeker asks not for license but for fearlessness and release so that he can remain on the ṛta-path.
Transform fear into surrendered sincerity; feel the ‘rope’ loosen around the heart and belly; rest in Varuṇa’s vastness.
Anāhata (fear-release, trust)
4-6 breathing: inhale 4, exhale 6 while repeating ‘apo su myakṣa’; on exhale visualize untying.
Protected openness; quiet authority returning to the mind.
When fear arises, do not argue with it—offer it to truth. Re-establish one truthful action immediately (a small correction) to restore īśitā.
Triṣṭubh with standard Vedic accents; keep ‘Varuṇa’ and ‘samrāṭ’ clear; slight lift on ‘vi mumugdhi’.
Stress the release verbs: ‘apo…’ (drive away), ‘vi mumugdhi’ (loosen). Maintain steady tone on ‘ṛtāvo’.
(mya) cluster in ‘myakṣa’—avoid inserting a vowel, ‘mumugdhi’—soft ‘dh’ at end, not ‘di’, ‘nimiṣaḥ’—retroflex ṣ, and visarga audible before ca
Soothing but firm; exhale-led phrasing.
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