Atharva Veda 18.2.18 — Kanda 18, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 2, Mantra 18

Sukta 2

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

स॒हस्र॑णीथाः क॒वयो॒ ये गो॑पा॒यन्ति॒ सूर्य॑म्। ऋषी॒न् तप॑स्वतो यम तपो॒जां अपि॑ गच्छतात्

IAST Transliteration

sahasra-nī́thāḥ kaváyo yé gopā́yanti sū́ryam | ṛṣī́n tápasvato yama tapojā́m ápi gacchatāt ||

English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)

The thousand-guiding sages who guard the Sun—to the seers, the austere, O Yama, to the tapas-born, unto them also may he go.

Translation

Die tausendführenden Weisen, die die Sonne behüten; zu den ṛṣi, den Asketen, o Yama, zu den aus tapas Geborenen – zu ihnen auch möge er gelangen.

Word by Word

• सहस्रणीथाः: (they who are) of thousandfold guidance/leading; thousand-guiding (sages)
• सहस्रणीथाः: Kartā
• Type: Adjective (used substantively)
• Root: सहस्र-णीथ (प्रातिपदिक; ‘सहस्र’ + ‘नीथ’ < √नी ‘नेतुम्/नयति’ ‘नेतृत्व/मार्ग/नेतृ’ भाव) अथवा ‘सहस्र-नीथ’ बहुव्रीहिः

• कवयः: seers, poets
• कवयः: Kartā (apposition to सहस्रणीथाः)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कवि (प्रातिपदिक)

• ये: who
• ये: Kartā (relative pronoun for the clause)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• गोपायन्ति: protect, guard
• गोपायन्ति: (verbal predicate; governs कर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √गुप्/√गोपाय (धातु; ‘to guard, protect’), causative/denominative stem गोपाय-

• सूर्यम्: the Sun
• सूर्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूर्य (प्रातिपदिक)

• ऋषीन्: the ṛṣis, sages
• ऋषीन्: Karma (of गच्छतात्)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋषि (प्रातिपदिक)

• तपस्वतः: austere, practicing ascetic heat
• तपस्वतः: Karma (qualifier of ऋषीन्)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तपस्वत् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘possessing tapas’)

• यम्: whom
• यम्: Karma (of implied verb ‘(अनु)गच्छ’/‘प्राप्नु’ etc.; correlates with following apposition)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• तपोजाम्: the tapas-born one (born of ascetic heat)
• तपोजाम्: Karma (in apposition to यम्)
• Type: Adjective (used substantively)
• Root: तपोजा (प्रातिपदिक; तपस् + जा ‘born of tapas’, from √जन् ‘to be born’)

• अपि: also, indeed
• अपि: (particle; adds sense ‘also/indeed’)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (निपात)

• गच्छतात्: let (him/it) go/attain
• गच्छतात्: (verbal predicate; subject understood—e.g., ‘(सः/ते) ... गच्छतात्’)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √गम् (धातु)

Attribution

Rishi: AV 18 funerary corpus (variable).

Devata: Yama; Ṛṣi-kavis; Sūrya as cosmic focus.

Chandas: Anuṣṭubh

Mantra Rasa

Primary: adbhuta

Secondary: shanta