Rig Veda 3.21.1: Mandala 3, Sukta 21, Mantra 1
Sukta 3.21
- Rishi
- Viśvāmitra Gāthina
- Devata
- Agni
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Shanta (peace)
इमं नो यज्ञममृतेषु धेहीमा हव्या जातवेदो जुषस्व । स्तोकानामग्ने मेदसो घृतस्य होतः प्राशान प्रथमो निषद्य ॥
imáṃ no yajñám amṛ́teṣu dhehī́mā́ havyā́ jātavedo juṣasva | stokā́nām agne médaso ghṛtásya hótaḥ prā́śān prathamó niṣádya ||
Setze dieses unser Opferwerk unter die Unsterblichen; nimm diese Opfergaben an, o Jātavedas. O Agni, koste zuerst — als Hotṛ sitzend — die tropfenden Ströme der nährenden Fülle und des leuchtenden Ghee (ghṛta); damit das Opfer in rechter Ordnung in uns aufsteige.
Word by Word
- इमम्
- thisPronounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- नः
- of us / ourPronounषष्ठी विभक्ति, बहुवचन (एन्क्लिटिक)Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- यज्ञम्
- sacrifice, riteNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot यज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक)
- अमृतेषु
- among the immortals / in the immortal (realms)Noun/Adjective (used substantively)नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति, बहुवचनRole अधिकरणRoot अमृत (प्रातिपदिक)
- धेहि
- place, establishVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदRole क्रियाRoot धा (धातु)
- इमाः
- thesePronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, बहुवचनRole कर्मRoot इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- हव्याः
- oblations (to be offered)Noun/Adjective (used substantively)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, बहुवचनRole कर्मRoot हव्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- जातवेदः
- O Jātavedas (Agni), knower of birthsNoun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (vocative), एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot जातवेदस् (प्रातिपदिक; बहुव्रीहि)
- जुषस्व
- enjoy, accept graciouslyVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपदRole क्रियाRoot जुष् (धातु)
- स्तोकेनाम्
- of drops / of little portionsNounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी विभक्ति, बहुवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root स्तोक (प्रातिपदिक)
- अग्ने
- O AgniNounपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (vocative), एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
- मेदसः
- of fat, of marrowNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी विभक्ति, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root मेदस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- घृतस्य
- of gheeNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी विभक्ति, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root घृत (प्रातिपदिक)
- होतः
- O Hotar (invoking priest)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (vocative), एकवचन (वैदिक रूप: होतः < होतृ)Role सम्बोधनRoot होतृ (प्रातिपदिक)
- प्राशान
- eat, partake (of the offering)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद (वैदिक आज्ञा-रूप)Role क्रियाRoot प्र + अश् (धातु)
- प्रथमः
- firstAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्तृ (विशेषण)Root प्रथम (प्रातिपदिक)
- निषद्य
- having sat downVerbal indeclinable (gerund)अव्यय; क्रियाविशेषण (पूर्वकर्म)Role क्रियाविशेषणRoot नि + सद् (धातु)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (सन्धि-निरसन): इमं + नः + यज्ञम् + अमृतेषु + धेहि । इमाः + हव्याः + जातवेदः + जुषस्व । स्तोकानाम् + अग्ने + मेदसः + घृतस्य + होतः + प्राशान् + प्रथमः + निषद्य । विशेष: ‘होतः’ वैदिक सम्बोधन-रूप (होतृ-शब्दस्य)
- ‘प्राशान्’ आज्ञार्थे वैदिक रूप, पदपाठे प्रायः ‘प्राशान्’ इति।
The meaning
Outer meaning
The poets ask Agni to place their sacrifice among the Immortals, to accept the offered oblations, and—seated as the Hotṛ—to partake first of the dripping drops of fat and ghee so the rite proceeds in right order.
Inner meaning
The seeker offers the whole inner work (yajña) to the immortal planes of consciousness (amṛteṣu). Agni Jātavedas—divine Will that “knows all births” (all movements of the being)—is invoked to take the first seat as the inner priest (hotṛ), initiating the sacrifice by tasting the luminous essence (ghṛta) and concentrated substance (medas). Psychologically, the mantra asks that aspiration, will, and discernment be established in the deathless awareness, so the transformation begins from the front (prathamaḥ) and proceeds in right sequence (ṛta) within.
Universal truth
Any lasting inner change requires a conscious guiding flame: a central will aligned to the highest truth that first receives, assimilates, and orders our energies, turning raw experience into luminous understanding and a rightly progressing life-offering.
Themes
Agni as Hotṛ, Establishing the sacrifice, Divine assent (juṣ), Inner offering of essence
The seer
- Rishi
- Viśvāmitra Gāthina
- Lineage
- Gāthin (Viśvāmitra line)
- Other hymns
- RV 3.1, RV 3.2, RV 3.3, RV 3.4, RV 3.62.10
Family tradition
Royal-turned-seer; the Viśvāmitra tradition emphasizes tapas, conquest of inner obstacles, and the ascent from mental to supramental light.
Significance
Viśvāmitra’s vision often moves from invoking the divine powers to establishing an inner law (ṛta) and widening consciousness; here he places the sacrifice in the ‘immortal’ foundation and asks Agni to become the first organizer of the inner rite.
The deity
- Devata
- Agni
- Epithets
- Jātavedas, Hotṛ, Pāvaka (implied purifier)
- Related deities
- Indra, Soma, Uṣas, Bṛhaspati
Cosmic role
Mediator between human and divine worlds; carrier of offerings; establisher of ṛta in the sacrifice; awakener of the gods (powers) in man.
Inner power
Divine Will and aspiration that kindles discernment, receives higher influences, and orders the being toward transformation.
In ritual
Where it is used
Agni-invocation at the opening/strengthening of an iṣṭi or soma-related sequence (general agni-stuti function)
इ॒मं नो॑ य॒ज्ञम॒मृते॑षु धेही॒मा ह॒व्या जा॑तवेदो जुषस्व । स्तो॒काना॑मग्ने॒ मेद॑सो घृ॒तस्य॒ होत॒: प्राशा॑न प्रथ॒मो नि॒षद्य॑ ॥
इ॒मम् । नः॒ । य॒ज्ञम् । अ॒मृते॑षु । धे॒हि॒ । ई॒मा । ह॒व्या । जा॒त॒ऽवे॒दः॒ । जु॒ष॒स्व॒ । स्तो॒काना॑म् । अ॒ग्ने॒ । मेद॑सः । घृ॒तस्य॑ । होत॒रिति॑ । प्र । अ॒शा॒न॒ । प्र॒थ॒मः । नि॒ऽसद्य॑ ॥
imam | naḥ | yajñam | amṛteṣu | dhehi | īmā | havyā | jāta-vedaḥ | juṣasva | stokānām | agne | medasaḥ | ghṛtasya | hotariti | pra | aśāna | prathamaḥ | ni-sadya
44
4 pādas of ~11 syllables (approximate)
Forward-driving, declarative cadence suited to invocation and establishment.
Creates a strong ‘leading’ momentum: the listener feels Agni taking the first seat and setting the inner process in motion.
- yajñam
- Literal: sacrifice, offering-work. Symbolic: the integral inner discipline: self-offering of mind, life, body to the Divine
- amṛteṣu
- Literal: among the immortals. Symbolic: deathless planes of consciousness; stable spiritual awareness beyond decay
- jātavedas
- Literal: knower of births/creatures. Symbolic: Agni as omniscient will in evolution, aware of all parts and origins in us
- hotṛ
- Literal: invoker-priest. Symbolic: the inner function that calls down higher powers and articulates aspiration
- ghṛta
- Literal: clarified butter/ghee. Symbolic: clarified light of understanding; luminous substance of truth-consciousness
- medas
- Literal: fat, richness, essence. Symbolic: concentrated vital-mental essence; the “sap” of energies offered for transmutation
- stokāḥ
- Literal: drops, streams. Symbolic: successive descents/instillations of light and force into the being
- prāśāna
- Literal: eat, partake. Symbolic: assimilate inwardly; make the offering effective by conscious reception
- niṣadya
- Literal: having sat down. Symbolic: establishment of the flame in the heart/center as a stable seat of guidance
Agni-oriented opening of a rite: seating the Hotṛ/Agni and inviting first participation; applicable broadly in soma and iṣṭi contexts as the ignition/establishment formula.
At commencement or re-kindling of the fire; when inviting Agni as Hotṛ to begin offerings
Offering of ghee/oblations while reciting to establish Agni and invite devatās
Use at the start of meditation or a journaling ‘inner offering’: mentally place one’s practice ‘among the immortals’ and invite the guiding will to lead.
√dhā ‘to place, establish’ in dhehi: imperative, asks for firm founding of the yajña in amṛta (deathless) consciousness. √juṣ ‘to enjoy, favor’: juṣasva indicates divine assent, not mere consumption. ghṛta from √ghṛ ‘to sprinkle/shine’ in Vedic symbolism: clarified luminous substance; medas ‘marrow/fat’ becomes ‘concentrated essence/strength’—inner sap of offering. hotṛ from √hu ‘to call’ (related to invocation): the one who invokes/offers; psychologically, the function that articulates aspiration.
amṛta (deathless plane of consciousness), right order of offering (ṛta in ritual-as-inner-discipline), transformation by ingestion/assimilation (Agni ‘eats’ to energize)
Agni as Hotṛ establishes the correct sequence and harmony of inner movements (ṛta) so the sacrifice can ‘rise’ without distortion.
Placing the work ‘among the immortals’ implies grounding in truth-consciousness rather than transient desire.
Agni as evolutionary fire that brings higher worlds into manifestation through offering and ascent.
Proto-Vedāntic / integral Vedic psychology (as read by Sri Aurobindo): gods as powers of consciousness.
Fire = awakened will; ghee = clarified understanding; drops = repeated descents of light/force feeding the flame until it becomes stable and directive.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Agni as the first receiver and mediator: he is seated as Hotṛ and ‘eats’ the offering first, enabling the ascent to the immortals. Mythically, the fire-priest establishes the bridge between human and divine; psychologically, the awakened will assimilates essence and lifts it to higher consciousness.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- hotṛ (from √hu ‘invoke’) reflects an archaic priestly function comparable to PIE-inherited invocation roles; yajña (from √yaj ‘worship, sacrifice’) continues Indo-Iranian *yaz- (Av. yaz-). amṛta parallels Av. amərətat- ‘immortality’, pointing to shared Indo-Iranian religious vocabulary.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi asks Agni to ‘place’ the work in the immortal order and to ‘relish’ the offering—showing dependence on Agni’s consent and leadership. The exchange is: human aspiration offers refined essence (ghṛta/medas), Agni responds by establishing and conducting the yajña upward.
Establish the inner flame (will-to-truth) as the first leader of practice; offer thoughts and energies into it.
Anāhata (heart) / Maṇipūra (will-fire)
Gentle ujjāyī or equal breathing (sama-vṛtti) while visualizing a steady flame receiving ‘drops’ of light on inhalation.
Collected, aspiring, directive (from scattered mind to unified intention).
Begin by inwardly ‘seating’ Agni: feel a calm, bright resolve in the center; then offer one by one—desire, fear, restlessness—asking the will to assimilate and reorder them in ṛta.
Vedic svara not fully specified in provided text; chant with attentive udatta peaks on key invocatory words (Agne, Jātavedas, hotṛ) and natural cadences at pāda ends.
Keep pāda-final cadence slightly settling; emphasize long vowels in amṛteṣu, jātavedo, juṣasva; avoid flattening conjuncts.
Maintain retroflex in hotṛ (ṭ) and niṣadya (ṣ), Keep ghṛ- as a single cluster: ghṛta (not ‘guh-rita’), juṣasva: clear ṣ (retroflex) and sv cluster, amṛteṣu: ṛ is a tapped vocalic ‘r’
Steady, bright, leading tone (as if ‘seating’ the will).
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Rig Veda in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
