Rig Veda 2.35.8: Mandala 2, Sukta 35, Mantra 8
Sukta 2.35
यो अप्स्वा शुचिना दैव्येन ऋतावाजस्र उर्विया विभाति । वया इदन्या भुवनान्यस्य प्र जायन्ते वीरुधश्च प्रजाभिः ॥
yó apsv ā́ śúcinā daivyéna ṛtā́vāj asrá urviyā́ ví-bhāti | vayā́ íd anyā́ bhúvanāny asya prá jāyante vīrúdhaś ca prajā́bhiḥ ||
هو الذي يلمع في المياه بطهارةٍ إلهية، دائمَ السَّير مع ṛta وامتلاءِ القوّة؛ ومنه حقًّا تولد العوالمُ الأُخرى، وطيورُ الحياة، والنباتاتُ النامية مع أجيالها.
Soma/Agni-related invocations where Apāṃ Napāt is called as hidden fire; supports rites emphasizing purification and generativity
Ṛta (ordering principle in creation), Vāja (plenitude of force), Cosmogony (birth of worlds)
The creative unfolding occurs because the hidden fire is ‘ṛtāvā’—it manifests by right law, not randomness.
Divine purity (daivya śuci) as truth-substance in the depths.
Emanation of worlds and life-forms from the luminous seed concealed in primordial waters.
Vedic creation-mysticism resonant with later Sāṃkhya/Vedānta: manifestation from subtle depths through an ordering principle.
Pre-dawn to dawn (hidden light beginning to shine)
Monsoon/spring (waters and growth; suggestive)
Subconscious/life-depths becoming luminous; emergence of new inner worlds, freer breath-thought, and organic growth of realization.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Apāṃ Napāt as the radiant ‘fire’ concealed in the waters, whose shining purity becomes the generative source of worlds, birds (life-motions), and plants (growth-forms). The waters are not merely physical; they are the subtle matrix of becoming from which ordered creation (ṛta) emerges.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √bhā ‘shine’ and √jan ‘be born’ preserve major IE roots (shine/birth) used for cosmogonic expression across IE traditions. The compositional style (ṛta + vāja) shows Vedic’s capacity to fuse ethical-cosmic law with dynamic power in a single epithet.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi contemplates Apāṃ Napāt as a universal generator: by naming his mode of action (divine purity, ṛta, wideness), the seer aligns human consciousness with that same ordering radiance, implying that inner creation (new worlds of being) proceeds by the same law.
Locate the ‘hidden fire’ in the depth of feeling—quietly luminous, purifying, creative.
Svādhiṣṭhāna (waters/emotions) purified and uplifted toward Anāhata/Ājñā.
Ujjāyī gentle: imagine breath as a stream; feel a warm point of light within the lower belly/heart ‘shining in the waters’.
Deep, flowing, luminous—creative quietude.
Sit with emotional currents without suppression; invoke ‘daivya śuci’—let a subtle warmth clarify the waters; watch new perceptions (‘worlds’) and freer movements (‘birds’) arise naturally.
RV svara; keep flowing continuity across pādas to mirror waters; udatta often highlights ‘śucinā’, ‘ṛtāvā’, ‘vibhāti’.
Do not clip vowels; allow jagatī length to ‘roll’. Pause lightly at pāda ends without breaking the flow-feel.
: sandhi—chant as ‘apsv ā’ with clear ‘psv’ cluster, : ‘śu-ci-nā’ (palatal ś), : vocalic ṛ clearly, : ‘a-jas-ra’, : ‘ur-vi-yā’, : long ī, retroflex ḍh in vīruḍh-
Liquid, resonant, continuous; slightly hushed to evoke depth.
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