Rig Veda 9.60.2: Mandala 9, Sukta 60, Mantra 2
Sukta 9.60
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Chandas
- Gāyatrī
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
तं त्वा सहस्रचक्षसमथो सहस्रभर्णसम् । अति वारमपाविषुः ॥
táṃ tvā sahásracakṣasam átho sahásrabharṇasam | áti vā́ram apāviṣuḥ ||
أنتَ—ذو الألف عين، وحاملُ ألفِ قوةٍ أيضًا—قد طهّروك عبر المِصفاة، متجاوزًا غربالَ الفصل.
Word by Word
- तम्
- him/that (one)Pronounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- त्वा
- youPronounद्वितीया, एकवचन (एनक्लिटिक रूप)Role कर्मRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- सहस्रचक्षसम्
- thousand-eyed; having a thousand eyesAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot सहस्र-चक्षस् (बहुव्रीहि-समास; प्रातिपदिक)
- अथो
- and also; moreoverIndeclinableअव्ययRoot अथ + उ (निपात-संयोग)
- सहस्रभर्णसम्
- having a thousand supports/bearings; thousand-fold sustainingAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot सहस्र-भर्णस (बहुव्रीहि/तत्पुरुष-समास; प्रातिपदिक)
- अति
- over; beyondIndeclinableअव्ययRoot अति (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- वारम्
- enclosure; covering; (protective) barrierNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot वार (प्रातिपदिक)
- अपाविषुः
- they entered/opened up (made a way through)Verbलुङ् (अोरिस्ट), परस्मैपद, 3 पुरुष, बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot √विś (विश्) ‘to enter’ with preverb अप- (अप + आ + √विश्)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: तम् | त्वा | सहस्रचक्षसम् | अथो | सहस्रभर्णसम् | अति | वारम् | अपाविषुः । 1) अथो = अथ + उ (निपात-संयोग). 2) अपाविषुः: उपसर्ग-संयोग अप- + आ- + √विश्
- लुङ् 3बहु (वैदिक रूप), अर्थतः ‘प्रविविशुः/अतिविविशुः’—‘आवरणं भित्त्वा प्रविशन्ति’ इति।
The meaning
Outer meaning
You, thousand-seeing and bearing a thousand powers, have they purified through the strainer, beyond the sieve.
Inner meaning
The seekers/priests (implicit ‘they’) pass Soma through vāra, the strainer: symbolically, the inner instruments apply discrimination so that delight becomes clear, powerful, and all-seeing. ‘Beyond the strainer’ (ati vāram) indicates not only purification but transcendence of the separating sieve—Soma emerges as a unified, integral consciousness with countless perceptions (sahasracakṣas) and capacities (sahasrabharṇas).
Universal truth
Disciplined discernment refines joy into a unified power that both sees widely and acts strongly; purification is a passage from division to integrality.
Themes
purification-through-filter, omniscience, power-bearing
The seer
- Other hymns
- RV 9.60
Significance
The rishi emphasizes method and result: purification (vāra) is not repression but a means to release a greater seeing and greater power.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Epithets
- Sahasracakṣas, Sahasrabharṇas, Pavamāna
- Related deities
- Agni (who kindles the sacrifice), Indra (who receives Soma and acts)
Cosmic role
Conveys and magnifies divine energies; clarifies consciousness through the cosmic filter of truth.
Inner power
Integrative Ananda that becomes both perception (eyes) and capacity (powers) in the practitioner.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma filtration (pavitra) phase in Soma-yajña
तं त्वा॑ स॒हस्र॑चक्षस॒मथो॑ स॒हस्र॑भर्णसम् । अति॒ वार॑मपाविषुः ॥
त्वम् । त्वा॒ । स॒हस्र॑ऽचक्षसम् । अथो॒ इति॑ । स॒हस्र॑ऽभर्णसम् । अति॑ । वार॑म् । अ॒पा॒वि॒षुः॒ ॥
tvam | tvā | sahasra-cakṣasam | atho iti | sahasra-bharṇasam | ati | vāram | apāviṣuḥ
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3 × 8 (gāyatrī-like)
Even, mantra-like, with a strong ‘ati vāram’ pivot suggesting breakthrough.
Supports repetitive japa; creates a felt sense of being filtered into clarity and then released into wideness.
- vāram
- Literal: strainer, sieve. Symbolic: Discriminative purification; the inner faculty that separates truth from mixture
- apāviṣuḥ
- Literal: they purified/filtered. Symbolic: The action of practice (tapas, offering, self-observation) refining consciousness
- sahasracakṣasam
- Literal: thousand-eyed. Symbolic: Many-sided awareness and insight
- sahasrabharṇasam
- Literal: bearing a thousand supports/powers. Symbolic: Abundant energies/capacities held and carried by the purified delight
- ati
- Literal: beyond, over. Symbolic: Transcendence of limiting separations after purification
Explicit reference to Soma passing through the vāra (filter). Used at the filtering stage to affirm Soma’s clarified omniscience and power-bearing capacity.
As Soma passes through wool/grass strainers into vessels.
Recitation accompanying the physical act of filtering; affirming Soma’s many-eyed, many-powered nature.
Use during self-purification practices (diet, speech discipline, emotional cleansing) to reframe them as releasing greater power, not constriction.
vāra ‘strainer’ from √vṛ ‘cover/select’ (semantic link to choosing/separating) supports the inner reading: discrimination that separates essence from mixture. bharṇas relates to √bhṛ ‘to bear’ but as a noun denotes sustaining force/weight; sahasra-bharṇas thus ‘innumerably sustaining energies’.
viveka-like separation (filter as discrimination), multiplicity of powers (sahasra-bharṇas), purification as transcendence (ati)
The ‘sieve’ is Ṛta’s discriminative law in action—separating truth-movement from false movement.
Purification yields clearer seeing (sahasracakṣas) aligned to Satya.
From undifferentiated mixture to clarified essence—microcosmic echo of cosmic ordering.
Yoga of purification leading to integrality (integral Vedantic-yogic reading).
Filtering = refining mental-vital substance; beyond sieve = unity-consciousness beyond divisive judgment; thousand powers = released prāṇic and mental capacities.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythologem is ‘Soma through the filter’: the divine essence becomes omniscient and power-bearing precisely by passing beyond the separating sieve. Inwardly, consciousness becomes many-eyed and strongly sustaining when it is purified by discrimination.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √bhṛ (in bharṇas) continues PIE *bher- ‘bear/carry’. The preverb + aorist (apa- + √pav/pū) is an inherited Indo-European verbal strategy to encode completed transformative action (‘they have purified out/away’).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The human agents of the rite (‘they’) purify Soma through the vāra, but the result is not mechanical: Soma reveals himself as sahasra-cakṣas and sahasra-bharṇas. The Rishi recognizes the collaboration of human discipline and divine self-manifestation.
Visualize awareness passing through a luminous filter: thoughts, impulses, and emotions are strained until only clear joy remains.
Manipura (purifying fire of discipline) supporting Ajna (clear seeing).
Exhale through lightly constricted throat (ujjayi-soft) to mimic ‘straining’; then relax fully on ‘ati’ to feel beyond-separation release.
Clarified, unified, empowered stillness.
Do a brief inner ‘filtering’: name one impurity (restlessness, resentment), offer it into the current of delight, and feel the residue drop away; rest in the ‘beyond the sieve’ unity.
Observe marked udatta; keep the gāyatrī-like pacing if chanted with 9.60.1.
Make 'sahasra-' compounds crisp and even; give a slight lift on 'ati vāram' as the breakthrough phrase.
sahasrabharṇasam: pronounce 'bhar' clearly; retroflex ṇ in 'bharṇa'., apāviṣuḥ: long ā; 'vi' short; final ḥ audible but light., vāram: long ā; avoid turning it into 'vaarem'.
Clean, even, ‘filtered’ tone without harshness.
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