Rig Veda 5.32.4: Mandala 5, Sukta 32, Mantra 4
Sukta 5.32
- Rishi
- Atri
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Raudra (fury)
त्यं चिदेषां स्वधया मदन्तं मिहो नपातं सुवृधं तमोगाम् । वृषप्रभर्मा दानवस्य भामं वज्रेण वज्री नि जघान शुष्णम् ॥
tyáṃ cid eṣāṃ svadháyā mádantaṃ mihó napātaṃ suvṛ́dhaṃ tamogā́m | vṛ́ṣaprabharmā dānávasya bhā́maṃ vájreṇa vajrī ní jaghāna śúṣṇam ||
তেওঁলোকৰ মাজত যি নিজৰ স্বধাৰ দ্বাৰা মত্ত, কুঁৱলীৰ সন্তান, সু-বৃদ্ধ, অন্ধকাৰগামী—সেইজনকো; বজ্ৰধাৰী, আঘাত-বহনকাৰী বৃষ ইন্দ্ৰে বজ্ৰেৰে দানৱৰ দীপ্ত ভাম, শুষ্ণক নিপাত কৰিলে।
Word by Word
- त्यम्
- him/that onePronounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग? द्वितीया एकवचन (अत्र पुं. ‘तम्’ = ‘him’)Role कर्मRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → त्य (प्रयोग)
- चित्
- even/indeedIndeclinableनिपात (अव्यय)Root चित् (निपात)
- एषाम्
- of these (of them)Pronounषष्ठी बहुवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- स्वधया
- by (his/their) own power / by svadhāNounतृतीया एकवचन (करण)Role करणRoot स्वधा (स्त्री. प्रातिपदिक)
- मदन्तम्
- rejoicing/intoxicatedParticipleवर्तमान कृदन्त (शतृ) ‘मदत्’ → ‘मदन्त्’; द्वितीया एकवचन पुं.Role कर्म (विशेषणरूपेण ‘त्यम्’)Root √मद् (मदँ हर्षे/मदे) वर्तमान-कृदन्त
- मिहः
- of mist/cloudNounषष्ठी एकवचनRole सम्बन्धRoot मिह्/मिह (स्त्री. ‘मिह्’ = धूम/कुहासा/वृष्टि-मेघ)
- नपातम्
- offspring/son (descendant)Nounद्वितीया एकवचनRole कर्म (त्यम्…नपातम्—एकमेव)Root नपात् (पुं. प्रातिपदिक)
- सुवृधम्
- well-grown/mightyAdjectiveद्वितीया एकवचन पुं.Role कर्म (विशेषण)Root सु-वृध (विशेषण-प्रातिपदिक; वृध् ‘वर्धने’)
- तमोगाम्
- going in darkness / moving in gloomAdjectiveद्वितीया एकवचन पुं. (समासान्त-रूप)Role कर्म (विशेषण)Root तमस् + गा/गम् (समास: तमो-गाम् ‘अन्धकार-गामिन्/गाम्’)
- वृषप्रभर्मा
- the bull-like smiter/bearer (epithet of Indra)Noun (epithet)प्रथमा एकवचन पुं.Role कर्ताRoot वृषन् + प्रभर्मन् (समास; प्रभर्मन् ‘प्रहारक/धारक’)
- दानवस्य
- of the Dānava (demon)Nounषष्ठी एकवचनRole सम्बन्धRoot दानव (पुं. प्रातिपदिक)
- भामम्
- splendour/furyNounद्वितीया एकवचनRole कर्मRoot भाम (नपुं./पुं. ‘तेजस्/क्रोध/प्रभा’)
- वज्रेण
- with the thunderboltNounतृतीया एकवचनRole करणRoot वज्र (पुं. प्रातिपदिक)
- वज्री
- the wielder of the thunderbolt (Indra)Noun (agent/possessor)प्रथमा एकवचन पुं.Role कर्ताRoot वज्रिन् (पुं. प्रातिपदिक)
- नि
- down, forth (intensifier)Indeclinableउपसर्गRoot नि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- जघान
- smote/slainVerbलिट् (परोक्स-भूत), प्रथमपुरुष एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole क्रियाRoot √हन् (हनँ हिंसायाम्) + (जघान = परोक्ष/लिट्)
- शुष्णम्
- Śuṣṇa (the demon)Proper Nounद्वितीया एकवचन पुं.Role कर्मRoot शुष्ण (पुं. प्रातिपदिक; दैत्य-नाम)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (सन्धि-निरसन): त्यं चिद् एषाम् स्वधया मदन्तम् | मिहः नपातम् सुवृधम् तमोगाम् | वृषप्रभर्मा दानवस्य भामम् वज्रेण वज्री नि जघान शुष्णम् || मुख्य सन्धयः: (1) त्यं+चित् → त्यं चित् (अनुस्वार-स्थिर) (2) चित्+एषाम् → चिदेषाम् (त्→द्, जश्त्व) (3) मिहः+नपातम् → मिहो नपातम् (विसर्ग→ओ, सवर्णदीर्घ/गुण-प्रकृति) (4) वज्री+नि → वज्री नि (सन्धि नित्य नहीं; पद-सीमा)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Indra strikes down Śuṣṇa, a Dānava power, with the vajra; Śuṣṇa is described as self-intoxicated, born of mist, growing strong and moving into darkness.
Inner meaning
The illumined Mind-Power (Indra) detects and smites a formidable resistance-force that thrives on self-will (svadhā) and obscuring conditions (mih, tamas). Śuṣṇa is the arrogant, self-sustained vitality/ego-force that feeds on its own law and expands by entering darker subconscient layers. Indra’s vajra is the decisive discriminating illumination that breaks the ‘blazing might’ of false force and restores the movement toward light.
Universal truth
What seems self-sufficient and powerful in ignorance is sustained by obscurity; when the higher intelligence applies a single-pointed luminous force, the pretended might collapses. True growth is not ‘thriving into darkness’ but increasing in clarity, truth, and right law (ṛta).
Themes
Śuṣṇa-slaying, titanic self-will, light vs. darkness
The seer
- Rishi
- Atri
- Lineage
- Ātreya
- Other hymns
- RV 5.32.1, RV 5.40.6, RV 5.74.1
Family tradition
Atri’s lineage is associated with luminous seership and the recovery of light from obscuration; hymns often show Indra’s victory as an inner breakthrough.
Significance
Atri-vision emphasizes the conquest of tamas by inspired intelligence; the seer’s ‘finding of the light’ becomes a template for yogic transformation of the subconscient.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- vajrī, vṛṣan, vṛṣaprabharmā, maghavan (implied)
- Related deities
- Agni, Soma, Bṛhaspati, Uṣas
Cosmic role
Breaker of the coverer; liberator of the hidden lights and waters; establishes the free flow of truth-force in the worlds.
Inner power
Illumined Mind and dynamic will of revelation that cleaves confusion and defeats egoic inflation.
In ritual
Where it is used
Indra śastra/stotra in Soma-yajña contexts (general Indra victory hymns)
त्यं चि॑देषां स्व॒धया॒ मद॑न्तं मि॒हो नपा॑तं सु॒वृधं॑ तमो॒गाम् । वृष॑प्रभर्मा दान॒वस्य॒ भामं॒ वज्रे॑ण व॒ज्री नि ज॑घान॒ शुष्ण॑म् ॥
त्यम् । चि॒त् । ए॒षा॒म् । स्व॒धया॑ । मद॑न्तम् । मि॒हः । नपा॑तम् । सु॒ऽवृध॑म् । त॒मः॒ऽगाम् । वृष॑ऽप्रभर्मा । दा॒न॒वस्य॑ । भाम॑म् । वज्रे॑ण । व॒ज्री । नि । ज॒घा॒न॒ । शुष्ण॑म् ॥
tyam | cit | eṣām | svadhayā | madantam | mihaḥ | napātam | su-vṛdham | tamaḥ-gām | vṛṣa-prabharmā | dānavasya | bhāmam | vajreṇa | vajrī | ni | jaghāna | śuṣṇam
44
4 pādas of ~11 syllables each
Strong, forward-driving, martial cadence with emphatic caesurae suited to proclamation and victory.
Builds inner courage and clarity; the rhythm supports a ‘strike-through’ feeling—cutting doubt and heaviness.
- svadhā
- Literal: one’s own power/law, self-ordinance. Symbolic: egoic self-law; automatic habit-energy that resists the divine order
- mada / madantam
- Literal: intoxication, drunkenness. Symbolic: rapture misused by ego; inflated self-sense that overreaches
- miháḥ napātam
- Literal: offspring of the mist. Symbolic: a force born from obscurity/confusion; mental-vital formations arising from veiling nature
- tamogām
- Literal: going into darkness. Symbolic: a movement into subconscient inertia/ignorance
- vṛṣa-prabharmā
- Literal: bull who bears/charges with the onrush. Symbolic: Indra as irresistible surge of illumined power
- dānava
- Literal: demonic titan (son of Danu). Symbolic: subconscient/undivine powers of division and obstruction
- bhāma
- Literal: splendour, blaze, angry glow. Symbolic: false brilliance of ego-force; dazzling but untrue energy
- vajra / vajrī
- Literal: thunderbolt / wielder of vajra. Symbolic: penetrating intuition, decisive discrimination, lightning-like truth-force
- Śuṣṇa
- Literal: a demon name (also ‘drying’). Symbolic: drying, desiccating obstruction; sterile force that drains joy and light
Indra’s demon-slaying praise in Soma context; invoked for breaking drought/withholding and restoring plenitude.
Soma pressings; recitations praising Indra’s Vṛtra/Asura-slaying power
Stotra/śastra recitation to invoke Indra’s force for overcoming obstacles
Used as a mantra of inner obstacle-removal: invoke decisive clarity against addictive patterns, inertia, or egoic self-justification.
svadhā ‘one’s own power/law’ (sva + dhā from √dhā ‘to place’ → ‘self-established mode’), in hostile beings becomes self-will. mīh-/miha ‘mist’ (obscuration). tamas ‘darkness’ + gām (√gam ‘to go’) ‘going into darkness’. Dānava from Danu- (primeval waters/abyss; later ‘demons’), indicating powers arising from undivided inconscience. Śuṣṇa connected with √śuṣ ‘to dry’ → the withholder of sap/flow (psychologically: drying of delight and inspiration).
svadhā as self-law vs. ṛta as truth-law, darkness (tamas) as inconscience, restoration of growth (suvṛdha) to right channels
Indra’s strike restores right movement—energies that ‘go into darkness’ are turned back toward ṛta.
Truth distinguishes real strength from the blaze of false might.
Liberation of blocked currents (light/waters) by breaking the obscuring formation.
Proto-Vedāntic / integral (Aurobindonian) psychological reading: cosmic battle mirrors inner yoga.
Mist/darkness = veiling consciousness; lightning = sudden intuition; bull-force = surging victorious energy of the illumined mind.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Indra’s slaying of Śuṣṇa, a Dānava associated with drought/withholding. Inner sense: the power that ‘dries’ the life-force and blocks the sap of delight is struck down; the false intoxication of self-will (svadhā) that moves into darkness is defeated by the luminous decision (vajra).
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √gam (tamogām) is from PIE *gʷem- ‘to go, come’ (cf. Latin venīre via different root; more direct: English come is cognate). √dhā in svadhā reflects PIE *dʰeh₁- ‘to put, place’ (cf. Greek títhēmi). The demon-name Śuṣṇa transparently ties to √śuṣ ‘dry’, a common IE semantic of desiccation as deprivation.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The hymn asks for Indra’s intervention against inner ‘dryness’—loss of sap, joy, and inspired flow. The rishi recognizes Indra as the force that subordinates self-will (svadhā) to the higher law (ṛta), converting misdirected growth into true increase.
Invoke Indra as the inner power that breaks self-deception and ‘drying’ negativity; contemplate the vajra as a beam of truth descending into the subconscient.
maṇipūra (will-force) / ājñā (illumined discernment)
Brisk, steady ujjāyī or 4-4-6 breathing while mentally placing ‘vajra’ on the knot of resistance.
From tamasic heaviness to clear, forceful lucidity (sattva with dynamic tapas).
Name the ‘Śuṣṇa’ pattern (sterile craving, cynicism, egoic certainty). On exhale, imagine the vajra striking the pattern; on inhale, draw in clean light and right law (ṛta).
Triṣṭubh recitation with standard Vedic udātta peaks on marked syllables; svarita on falling accents; anudātta as the baseline (exact śākhā-specific melody varies).
Lean into udātta on key force-words: vājrī́, vājréṇa, ní jaghāna; keep sandhi clean at tamogām / vṛṣaprabharmā.
Hold retroflex ṇ in vājréṇa clearly, Śuṣṇa: pronounce ṣ (retroflex) distinctly; avoid ‘shushna’ softness, tamogām: keep long ā in gām, vṛṣa: vocalic ṛ as a quick ‘ri’ without adding a full vowel
Firm, bright, slightly percussive on consonants; end each pāda with controlled release.
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