Rig Veda 3.18.4: Mandala 3, Sukta 18, Mantra 4
Sukta 3.18
उच्छोचिषा सहसस्पुत्र स्तुतो बृहद्वयः शशमानेषु धेहि । रेवदग्ने विश्वामित्रेषु शं योर्मर्मृज्मा ते तन्वं भूरि कृत्वः ॥
úc chóciṣā sahasasputra stutó bṛhád váyaḥ śaśamānéṣu dhehi | revád agne viśvāmitreṣu śáṃ yór marmṛjmā́ te tanvàṃ bhū́ri kṛ́tvaḥ ||
Erhebe dich mit deiner Flamme, o Sohn des Sahas, gepriesen; in die nach Meisterschaft Strebenden lege eine große, geflügelte, aufsteigende Kraft. O Agni, reich an Fülle unter den Viśvāmitras, wir wollen deinen Leib glätten und erhellen, ihn weithin aufbauen zu Frieden und Wohlergehen (śam, yóḥ).
Clan-specific Agni praise; used to strengthen Agni in the sacrificers and to install ‘bṛhat vayaḥ’ (vast ascending force) in the practitioners.
Sahas (force) as origin of Agni, Bṛhat (vast ascent), Purification (mṛj), Śam-yoḥ (peace and well-being)
True ascent is an ascent in ṛta—expansion that also yields peace and welfare, not agitation.
Polishing Agni’s ‘body’ is aligning the instrument to truth so force expresses cleanly.
Formation of a ‘great body’ of fire—an inner creative embodiment of divine will in the human vessel.
Integral yoga reading: ascent (winged power) and purification/refinement of the instrument for stable peace.
dawn-like uplift (symbolic)
Flame rising = aspiration; wings = liberated consciousness; polishing = purification of mind-vital-body; peace/welfare = settled harmony after ascent.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Agni as ‘son of Force’ rising with flame and granting ‘wings’ of vast ascent to the disciplined: the mythic action is the upward surge of fire that becomes an inner power of elevation in the sacrificers.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- The ascent imagery ‘wings’ (vayaḥ) and the fire’s upward motion belong to a shared IE poetics of elevation (fire/sun rising). The cleansing root √mṛj (‘wipe/purify’) corresponds to widespread IE notions of ritual purity enacted by physical cleaning and transposed into moral/psychological purification.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The Viśvāmitras praise and ‘polish’ Agni—i.e., they intensify and clarify the inner fire through mantra and rite. Agni reciprocates by placing bṛhat vayaḥ (vast ascending power) into the striving practitioners and establishing śam-yoḥ (peaceful felicity).
Feel the flame rising along the spine as a ‘winged’ uplift; then settle the uplift into heart-peace (śam) and whole-being welfare (yoḥ).
anahata (peace) and ajna (winged vision)
Ujjāyī (soft) for 3–5 minutes; on inhale feel ‘ut’, on exhale feel ‘śam-yoḥ’.
Uplifted spacious calm; luminous steadiness.
After invoking ascent, consciously ‘polish the instrument’: relax rough edges—irritation, haste, pride—so force can act smoothly and benevolently.
Chant with clear udātta rises on ‘ut’ and key epithets; keep the cadence smooth on ‘śaṃ yor’.
Let pāda 1 rise; pāda 2 broaden; pāda 3 soften into auspiciousness; pāda 4 steady and luminous.
: long ī; ‘śo-ci-ṣā’ with retroflex ṣ, : sandhi; articulate ‘sahasas-putra’ cleanly, : ‘viś-vā-mi-tre-ṣu’ with retroflex ṣ, : cluster; ‘mar-mṛj-mā’ with vocalic ṛ
Uplifting, bright, then soothing at the end.
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