Rig Veda 9.22.5: Mandala 9, Sukta 22, Mantra 5
Sukta 9.22
एते पृष्ठानि रोदसोर्विप्रयन्तो व्यानशुः । उतेदमुत्तमं रजः ॥
eté pṛṣṭhā́ni ródasor viprayánto ví ānaśuḥ | utédám uttamáṃ rájaḥ ||
এইসকল, বিপ্ৰসদৃশ প্ৰেরিত ঋষিৰূপে গতি কৰি, দুয়ো লোকৰ উচ্চ পৃষ্ঠসমূহলৈ ব্যাপি উপনীত হৈছে; আৰু এই পৰম উত্তম ৰজঃ—সৰ্বোচ্চ দীপ্তিময় বিস্তাৰলৈও উপনীত হৈছে।
Pavamāna: ascent imagery corresponds to Soma’s ‘going’ to the gods and to the offering-height; inner practice: raising consciousness to higher planes
vertical symbolism of consciousness, uttama rajas as supreme plane, integration of dualities (rodasī)
Soma’s purified movement is a ṛtaic ascent—orderly widening that aligns the lower worlds to the higher luminous law.
Reaching the ‘uttama rajas’ implies entry into a truth-native consciousness where perception is less mixed with error.
Ascent from divided worlds to the highest luminous expanse mirrors the Vedic creation-motif: emergence of light and vastness from limitation.
Proto-Vedāntic / integral (Aurobindonian) reading: ascent toward supramental truth-consciousness through purified Ananda.
The flowing Soma is the bliss-current; sky/earth are mind and embodied life; the ‘highest rajas’ is the vast luminous plane of awakened truth.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Soma as a traveler that reaches the ‘tops’ of heaven-and-earth and the ‘highest expanse.’ Mythically it is the offering that goes to the gods; psychologically it is the uplift of consciousness beyond the dual field into a supreme plane (uttama rajas).
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- The dual ‘two worlds’ formula is an archaic IE cosmological pattern (sky/earth dyad). The spatial lexicon (pṛṣṭha, rajas, uttama) encodes a vertical cosmology typical of early Indo-European poetic traditions.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi’s aspiration for higher realization is enacted by Soma’s movement: Soma becomes the operative power that ‘reaches’ where the human normally cannot, carrying the being across the twofold domain into the supreme expanse.
Feel a purified current rising through the whole being, integrating ‘two worlds’ (mind and life) and opening into a vast luminous stillness above the head.
Sahasrara (opening to the ‘highest expanse’); Ajna as the vipra-illumined guidance
Gentle ujjayi or slow nasal breathing with an upward attention on the inhale; brief stillness after inhale to ‘touch the vast’.
Widening (bṛhat) leading to quiet illumination and a sense of overhead presence.
Chant 3–9 times; then sit with attention above the crown, allowing thoughts to broaden and thin out, as if entering a clear sky. Offer any agitation into the ‘Soma-stream’ and let it refine.
Not fully determinable without pada-svara notation; generally chant with Vedic three-tone awareness (udātta rise, anudātta low, svarita fall) following the śākhā tradition.
Keep clear word boundaries per padapāṭha: ete | pṛṣṭhāni | rodasoḥ | viprayantaḥ | vy ānaśuḥ | utedam | uttamaṃ | rajaḥ.
ro-da-soḥ: final visarga-like ḥ should be light; do not overaspirate, viprayantaḥ: keep ‘pr’ conjunct crisp; final ‘ḥ’ soft, vy ānaśuḥ: separate ‘vy’ + ‘ā’; lengthen ā in ānaśuḥ, uttamaṃ: double ‘tt’ held slightly, rajaḥ: ‘j’ as in ‘judge’; final ḥ soft
Clear, slightly uplifted tone with a gentle crescendo toward ‘uttamam rajaḥ’.
9
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