Rig Veda 5.67.2: Mandala 5, Sukta 67, Mantra 2
Sukta 5.67
- Rishi
- Atri
- Devata
- Mitra–Varuṇa
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
आ यद्योनिं हिरण्ययं वरुण मित्र सदथः । धर्तारा चर्षणीनां यन्तं सुम्नं रिशादसा ॥
ā́ yád yóniṃ hiraṇyáyaṃ váruṇa mítra sádathaḥ | dhartā́rā carṣaṇīnā́ṃ yántaṃ sumnáṃ riśā́dasā ||
Wenn ihr im goldenen Schoß Platz nehmt, o Varuṇa und Mitra – Träger der Völker –, dann setzt ihr den strömenden Lauf des Segens in Bewegung, ihr, die ihr das Unheil verzehrt.
Word by Word
- आ
- hither; towardsIndeclinableउपसर्ग/निपात (directional: ‘towards, hither’)Root आ (उपसर्ग) / ā (preverb)
- यत्
- which; thatPronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (relative ‘which/that’)Role Karma (of ‘आ … यन्तम्’ = ‘approaching which’)Root यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- योनिम्
- womb; seat; abodeNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole Karma (goal/object of motion with ‘आ’)Root योनि- (प्रातिपदिक)
- हिरण्ययम्
- goldenAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (योनिम् इति विशेषणम्)Role Karma (qualifier of the object ‘yoni’)Root हिरण्यय- (प्रातिपदिक; हिरण्य ‘gold’ + -य)
- वरुण
- O VaruṇaNoun (proper)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole Kartā (addressed agent, with Mitra)Root वरुण- (देवनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- मित्र
- O MitraNoun (proper)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole Kartā (addressed agent, with Varuṇa)Root मित्र- (देवनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- सदथः
- seat; session; assemblyNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Vedic; ‘assembly-seat/session’)Role Adhikaraṇa (locus/seat; ‘the session/seat [is]…’)Root सदथ- (प्रातिपदिक)
- धर्तारौ
- the two upholders; sustainersNoun (agent)पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, द्विवचनRole Kartā (the two as agents: Varuṇa & Mitra)Root धर्तृ- (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √धृ ‘to hold’)
- चर्षणीनाम्
- of the peoples; of menNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचनRole Sambandha (genitive: ‘of the peoples’)Root चर्षणी- (प्रातिपदिक; ‘men/peoples’)
- यन्तम्
- going; coming; approachingParticiple (verbal adjective)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (agreeing with implied ‘सुम्नम्’)Role Karma (object being ‘approached/coming’)Root √या (धातु ‘to go’) → यन्त् (वर्तमान कृदन्त/प्रत्ययान्त ‘going’)
- सुम्नम्
- favor; grace; blessingNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole Karma (what is sought/approached: ‘favor’)Root सुम्न- (प्रातिपदिक)
- रिशादसा
- O destroyers of harm; O foe-devourersAdjective (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, द्विवचन (epithet of Varuṇa–Mitra)Role Kartā (addressed, qualifying the agents)Root रिशादस्- (प्रातिपदिक; ‘harm-eater/foe-destroyer’)
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolution: आ यद्योनिं → आ यत् योनिम् (t + y → dy)
- हिरण्ययं वरुण मित्र सदथः: vocatives ‘वरुण, मित्र’ in apposition
- धर्तारा → धर्तारौ (dual nominative of धर्तृ-; Vedic metrical form)
- चर्षणीनां यन्तं: no sandhi change
- रि॑शादसा is vocative dual of रिशादस्- (epithet of the two gods)
The meaning
Outer meaning
When Mitra and Varuṇa take their seat in a golden “womb” or seat of sacrifice, they—upholders of the peoples—set in motion a stream of blessing that consumes harms and injuries.
Inner meaning
When the soul turns inward and the powers of Harmony (Mitra) and Vast Law/Truth (Varuṇa) are established in the luminous psychic seat (hiraṇyaya yoni), the current of grace (sumna) begins to move through the being. This movement is protective and purifying: it “devours” inner disorder—falsehood, anxiety, hostile impulses—so the human nature can be held steadily in the right rhythm of consciousness.
Universal truth
When inner harmony and truth-governance are enthroned in the heart-center of awareness, well-being becomes a living current rather than a static gift; it actively digests what harms and restores the right order in life.
Themes
golden source, divine enthronement, felicity-current, protection from harm
The seer
- Rishi
- Atri (Ātreya)
- Lineage
- Ātreya
- Other hymns
- RV 5.66, RV 5.68, RV 5.69
Family tradition
Mandala 5 is chiefly the Atri family collection; the Atris are associated with clarity of vision and the recovery of light (go/rays) through right order.
Significance
Atri’s voice here is the seer’s insistence that protection is not merely external but the result of enthroning ṛta in the luminous inner seat; the Atri tradition repeatedly links truth-law with wideness and felicity.
The deity
- Devata
- Mitra–Varuṇa (Ādityas)
- Epithets
- dhartārā (upholders), riśādasā (devourers of harm)
- Related deities
- Aryaman, Bhaga, Savitar, Indra (as illuminator working with ṛta)
Cosmic role
Guardians of ṛta (truth-order): Mitra maintains concord and right relation; Varuṇa maintains vast law, moral and cosmic governance.
Inner power
Mitra = harmonizing intelligence and right relatedness; Varuṇa = wide, calm truth-consciousness that binds the being to the law of the Real and releases from crookedness.
In ritual
Where it is used
Mitra–Varuṇa offerings in Soma or daily fire contexts (general Āditya praise)
आ यद्योनिं॑ हिर॒ण्ययं॒ वरु॑ण॒ मित्र॒ सद॑थः । ध॒र्तारा॑ चर्षणी॒नां य॒न्तं सु॒म्नं रि॑शादसा ॥
आ । यत् । योनि॑म् । हि॒र॒ण्यय॑म् । वरु॑ण । मित्र॑ । सद॑थः । ध॒र्तारा॑ । च॒र्ष॒णी॒नाम् । य॒न्तम् । सु॒म्नम् । रि॒शा॒द॒सा॒ ॥
ā | yat | yonim | hiraṇyayam | varuṇa | mitra | sadathaḥ | dhartārā | carṣaṇīnām | yantam | sumnam | riśādasā
44
4 pādas × ~11 syllables (typical triṣṭubh cadence)
Firm, forward-driving rhythm suited to proclamation of law and protection.
Stabilizes the mind in a steady beat; supports an experience of being ‘held’ by a larger order while invoking dynamic grace.
- yoni (योनि)
- Literal: womb, source, seat. Symbolic: psychic seat/source of consciousness where divine powers are established
- hiraṇyaya (हिरण्यय)
- Literal: golden. Symbolic: luminous, supramental/psychic light; pure substance of awakened awareness
- sadathaḥ (सदथः)
- Literal: you sit, take seat. Symbolic: the divine powers become stable in the inner being; a settled governance
- dhartārā (धर्तारा)
- Literal: upholders, sustainers. Symbolic: powers that hold the nature in right law and coherence
- carṣaṇīnām (चर्षणीनााम्)
- Literal: of the peoples/men. Symbolic: of the human faculties and communities of impulses in the being
- sumna (सुम्न)
- Literal: favor, felicity, grace. Symbolic: divine benediction experienced as inner well-being and right force
- yantam (यन्तम्)
- Literal: going, moving, directing. Symbolic: a dynamic flow/impulse of grace that leads the being forward
- riśādasā (रिशादसा)
- Literal: devourers of harm. Symbolic: powers that consume inner injury: falsehood, hostility, crookedness
Invocation of the gods’ seat in the luminous source (hiraṇyaya yoni), aligning the rite with the ‘golden’ truth-plane; seeks sumná (felicity) and protection from harm.
Invocations to establish ṛta and protection before/within offerings; also suitable for dawn/evening recitation as guardians of order.
Praise (stuti) and invitation to ‘sit’ (āsana) in the sacrificial seat; request for sumna and removal of harm.
Use as a protective ‘inner governance’ mantra before meditation or important decisions: establish harmony (Mitra) and truth-discipline (Varuṇa) in the heart.
yoni ‘womb/source’ from √yu ‘to join/contain’ (semantic: place of generation). hiraṇya ‘gold’ symbolizes solar-luminous substance (not material wealth primarily). √dhṛ ‘hold’ → dhartṛ ‘supporter’. sumná is grace/felicity (su- + man? traditional uncertain; functionally ‘happy fullness’).
yoni as origin-plane of consciousness, sumná as grace/felicity, gods as sustainers of communities
Direct: Mitra–Varuṇa as sustainers and enforcers of ṛta; felicity flows when they are seated in the luminous source.
Golden yoni implies truth-substance; harms are digested by alignment to satya.
Order-as-creation: the ‘seat’ of law generates a moving current of well-being.
Proto-Vedāntic and Yogic reading (Sri Aurobindo/Kashyap): deities as powers of consciousness establishing inner law.
dawn or twilight (typical for Ādityas as guardians of order)
A luminous inner sun-seat in the heart/mind from which grace flows as a steady current, consuming obscurity.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The gods enthroned in the ‘golden womb’ is a cosmogonic-sovereign image: from the luminous source they uphold the peoples and send forth the moving stream of sumná (felicity). Harm is ‘eaten’—hostility is assimilated and annulled by the sovereign order.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √dhṛ ‘hold’ is PIE *dher- ‘hold/support’. √sad ‘sit’ reflects PIE *sed- (Latin sedere). The enthronement idiom is an inherited Indo-European poetic trope for divine establishment and effective presence.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi times the divine presence: when the gods seat themselves in the luminous origin, their upholding becomes active in the human world as sumná. The human act of invocation is thus a call for the gods to take their seat in consciousness so felicity can ‘move’ and harm be consumed.
Enthrone harmony and truth in the ‘golden seat’ of the heart; feel grace as a moving current through the nerves.
Anāhata (heart) / Ājñā (truth-governance)
Slow equal breathing (sama-vṛtti) while repeating the mantra; exhale with ‘sumnaṃ’ as release of harm.
Quiet vigilance: calm wideness with moral clarity.
Before japa, recall one area of life needing right order; invoke Mitra for right relation and Varuṇa for truth-discipline; end by feeling protection as inner digestion of disturbance.
Use standard Rigvedic udātta/anudātta/svarita as per śākhā; key lifts often fall on deity-names (varuṇa, mitra) and power-words (hiraṇyayaṃ, sumnaṃ).
Sustain udātta peaks lightly; avoid flattening compounds like hiraṇyayaṃ; keep pāda breaks clear after sadathaḥ.
yoniṃ: nasalized ‘ṃ’ at end, do not add a vowel, hiraṇyayaṃ: clear retroflex ṇ; avoid ‘hiranyayam’ without ṇ, varuṇa: soft ‘ṇa’ retroflex; do not over-roll, riśādasā: ś as palatal ‘sh’; keep long ā in -sā
Steady, regal, protective; minimal vibrato; clear consonants.
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