Rig Veda 6.21.3: Mandala 6, Sukta 21, Mantra 3
Sukta 6.21
- Rishi
- Bharadvāja
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
स इत्तमोऽवयुनं ततन्वत्सूर्येण वयुनवच्चकार । कदा ते मर्ता अमृतस्य धामेयक्षन्तो न मिनन्ति स्वधावः ॥
sa it tamo 'vayunaṃ tatanvat sūryeṇa vayunavat cakāra | kadā te martā amṛtasya dhāma iyakṣanto na minanti svadhāvaḥ ||
Er wahrlich spannte die Finsternis aus, der rechten Unterscheidung bar; mit der Sonne machte er sie voll lichter Ordnung (vayuna). Wann werden deine Sterblichen, opfernd in die Wohnstatt der Unsterblichkeit, nicht mehr mindern—o Selbstmächtiger?
Word by Word
- सः
- hePronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → स
- इत्
- indeed, justIndeclinableनिपातः (अव्ययम्)Root इत् (निपात) अथवा इद् (निपात-रूप)
- तमः
- best, most excellentAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम् (सः इत्तमः = ‘he is the best’)Role कर्तृ-विशेषणम्Root तम (सर्वोत्तम/अतिशयार्थक-प्रातिपदिक; ‘तम’ = most)
- अवयुनम्
- (his) wondrous/secret device, stratagemNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot अवयुन (प्रातिपदिक; a- + वयुन ‘skill, device, plan’)
- ततन्वत्
- spreading, extendingVerb (participle)वर्तमान-कृदन्तः (शतृ/शानच्-समकक्षः), प्रथमा, एकवचनम्, पुंलिङ्गःRole कर्तृ (सः … ततन्वत् = ‘he, spreading…’)Root √तन् (तनु॒) ‘to stretch, spread’
- सूर्येण
- with/by the SunNounपुंलिङ्गः, तृतीया, एकवचनम्Role करणRoot सूर्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- वयुनवत्
- endowed with skill/wise deviceAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम् (अवयुनम् इति कर्मणः विशेषणम्)Role कर्म-विशेषणम्Root वयुनवत् (प्रातिपदिक; वयुन + वत् ‘possessing’)
- चकार
- he has made, he fashionedVerbलिट् (परस्मैपदम्), प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role क्रियाRoot √कृ (करोति) ‘to do, make’
- कदा
- when?Indeclinableप्रश्नार्थ-अव्ययम्Root कदा (अव्यय)
- ते
- of you, yourPronounषष्ठी, एकवचनम् (एन्क्लिटिक)Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → त्वद्
- मर्ताः
- mortalsNounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot मर्त (प्रातिपदिक)
- अमृतस्य
- of immortality, of the immortal (state)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, षष्ठी, एकवचनम्Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root अमृत (प्रातिपदिक)
- धाम
- abode, stationNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम् (वैदिक रूप: धाम < धामन्)Role कर्मRoot धामन् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘seat, abode, ordinance, splendor’)
- ईयक्षन्तः
- worshipping, sacrificingVerb (participle)वर्तमान-कृदन्तः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्, पुंलिङ्गःRole कर्तृ (मर्ताः … ईयक्षन्तः = ‘mortals worshipping…’)Root √यज् (यजति) ‘to worship, sacrifice’ (वैदिक: desiderative/iterative nuance possible)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेधःRoot न (निषेध-अव्यय)
- मिनन्ति
- they diminish/violateVerbलट् (परस्मैपदम्), प्रथमपुरुषः, बहुवचनम्Role क्रियाRoot √मि/√मिन् (मिनोति/मिनाति) ‘to diminish, injure, transgress’
- स्वधावः
- possessing svadhā (own power/ritual potency)Adjective (used substantively)पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role कर्तृ-विशेषणम् (मर्ताः) / कर्तृ (उपपद-भावे)Root स्वधा (प्रातिपदिक; ‘own power/impulse; ritual Svadhā’) + वस्/वत् (possessive) → स्वधावन्
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (सन्धि-विग्रह): स इत्तमः अवयुनम् ततन्वत् सूर्येण वयुनवत् चकार । कदा ते मर्ताः अमृतस्य धाम ईयक्षन्तः न मिनन्ति स्वधावः ॥ 1) इत्तमोऽवयुनम् = इत् + तमः + अवयुनम् (अः + अ → ’अवग्रह)
- 2) ततन्वत्सूर्येण = ततन्वत् + सूर्येण (त् + स → त्स्)
- 3) धामेयक्षन्तः = धाम + ईयक्षन्तः (अ + ई → ए)
The meaning
Outer meaning
He stretched out the darkness without right discernment; with the Sun he made it full of luminous order. When will your mortals, offering into the home of immortality, no longer diminish, O self-powered one?
Inner meaning
Indra confronts ‘tamas avayuna’—darkness lacking the right arrangement of knowledge (vayuna). By the allied power of Sūrya (illumination, truth-light), he transforms obscurity into ordered discernment (vayunavat). The rishi then turns to the human problem: mortals ‘diminish’ (minanti) by lapses, dispersions, and loss of force. When, by offering into the ‘home of immortality’ (amṛtasya dhāma: the deathless consciousness), will they cease to waste their energy and become stable in the self-powered (svadhā) movement?
Universal truth
Ignorance is not merely removed; it is reorganized into luminous understanding by the action of higher intelligence and truth-light. Human decline ceases when life is offered into the deathless center and guided by an inner self-law.
Themes
Light vs Darkness, Inner illumination, Immortality-aspiration
The seer
- Rishi
- Bharadvāja Bārhaspatya
- Lineage
- Bharadvāja
- Other hymns
- RV 6.21.4 (questions of where Indra is found), RV 6.20 (victories over obstructers)
Family tradition
Bharadvāja’s Indra hymns often join Indra with Sūrya (illumination) and frame the work as transformation of tamas into ordered light; the questioning tone pushes toward a practical yoga for mortals.
Significance
The seer diagnoses the core problem as ‘avayuna’—not just darkness but mis-arranged consciousness; the remedy is alliance of Indra-force with Sūrya-light and persistent offering into immortality.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra (with Sūrya as allied power)
- Epithets
- Svadhāvan (self-powered), Vṛtrahan (implicit function), Sūrya-sahāya (Sun-aided—implicit)
- Related deities
- Sūrya, Agni, Soma
Cosmic role
Transforms chaos/obscurity into ordered luminous law; leads mortals toward the immortal seat through sacrifice.
Inner power
Decisive illumination that reorganizes the subconscient; capacity to stabilize human energies by linking them to the deathless center.
In ritual
Where it is used
Indra praise in Soma context; philosophical-reflective verse within stotra
स इत्तमो॑ऽवयु॒नं त॑त॒न्वत्सूर्ये॑ण व॒युन॑वच्चकार । क॒दा ते॒ मर्ता॑ अ॒मृत॑स्य॒ धामेय॑क्षन्तो॒ न मि॑नन्ति स्वधावः ॥
सः । इत् । तमः॑ । अ॒व॒यु॒नम् । त॒त॒न्वत् । सूर्ये॑ण । व॒युन॑ऽवत् । च॒का॒र॒ । क॒दा । ते॒ । मर्ताः॑ । अ॒मृत॑स्य । धाम॑ । इय॑क्षन्तः । न । मि॒न॒न्ति॒ । स्व॒धा॒ऽवः॒ ॥
saḥ | it | tamaḥ | avayunam | tatanvat | sūryeṇa | vayuna-vat | cakāra | kadā | te | martāḥ | amṛtasya | dhāma | iyakṣantaḥ | na | minanti | svadhāvaḥ
44
4×11 syllables (approx.)
First half forceful (cutting through darkness), second half interrogative and yearning; a turn from action to aspiration.
Clears heaviness, then opens a reflective longing for stability in immortality.
- तमः (tamaḥ)
- Literal: darkness. Symbolic: ignorance, subconscient obscurity, inertia
- अवयुनम् (avayunam)
- Literal: without vayuna (order/skill). Symbolic: confused consciousness lacking right discernment and true arrangement
- सूर्येण (sūryeṇa)
- Literal: with the Sun. Symbolic: with illumining truth-consciousness; light of revelation
- वयुनवत् (vayunavat)
- Literal: endowed with order/discernment. Symbolic: mind made luminous, rightly arranged, capable of true discrimination
- अमृतस्य धाम (amṛtasya dhāma)
- Literal: home/seat of immortality. Symbolic: deathless plane in the being (psychic/spiritual center; higher consciousness)
- स्वधावः (svadhāvaḥ)
- Literal: self-powered, of own law. Symbolic: acting from inner truth-law; autonomous spiritual energy not dependent on outer impulses
- मिनन्ति (minanti)
- Literal: diminish, lessen. Symbolic: loss of force through desire, distraction, false movement
Soma-yajña praise with a soteriological turn: aspiration toward amṛta-dhāma (immortal station) through right offering.
During Indra hymns; also apt in dawn/sun-related recitations due to Sūrya reference.
Recitation with offering; contemplation of transformation of tamas to light as part of yajña intention.
For meditation when facing inertia/confusion: chant to invoke re-ordering of mind; use the second half as a self-inquiry about leakage of energy and the turn toward the ‘deathless seat’.
tamas ‘darkness’. vayuna ‘discernment, right method/ordering’ (semantic field of skillful arrangement; related to √vī/√ve ‘to weave/strive’ in Vedic usage; here as ‘right functioning of intelligence’). sūrya as truth-illumination. √kṛ ‘do/make’ → cakāra. √yaj ‘sacrifice’ → iyakṣantaḥ (Vedic formation expressing active aspiring to offer). √mī ‘diminish’ → minanti. svadhā (sva + dhā ‘one’s own placing/law’) = inherent power/own-nature.
Transformation of tamas into ordered consciousness (vayuna), Amṛta (immortality) as a realizable dhāma, Svadhā (self-law, inherent power)
Vayuna is ṛta operationalized in the mind: right placing of forces and perceptions.
Sūrya embodies satya-dṛś (truth-seeing) that converts darkness into ordered knowing.
Cosmic work of ‘making’ (cakāra) order out of obscurity—continuous creation in consciousness.
Yoga of transformation (Aurobindonian): not world-negation but conversion of tamas into luminous order by higher light.
dawn/early morning (implied by Sūrya bringing order)
Darkness = subconscient ignorance; Sun = revelation/illumination; dawn-like transition = awakening of discernment (vayuna).
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The dispelling/transformation of darkness by solar light—an archetypal Vedic mythologem of recovering luminous order from obscurity. Here it is internalized: avayuna (disordered mind) is made vayunavat (rightly ordered) through Sūrya’s truth-light under Indra’s action.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √yaj (iyakṣantaḥ) belongs to Indo-Iranian ritual lexicon (cf. Avestan yaz- ‘worship’). √dhā (dhāma, svadhā) reflects PIE *dʰeh₁- ‘put, place’ (cf. Gk títhēmi).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi questions the delay in human stabilization in amṛta: the divine act has shown the possibility (darkness can be re-ordered), yet mortals still ‘diminish’. The verse frames a pedagogy: right yajña aligns human svabhāva with Indra’s svadhā.
Transform ‘avayuna’ (confused mind) into ‘vayunavat’ (ordered discernment) by invoking Sun-light in the brow and Indra-force in the will.
āñjā (sun-like illumination) with maṇipūra (Indra-force as decisive will)
Sūrya-bhedana (right-nostril inhale) gently for 9 rounds, then equal breathing; chant on exhale imagining sunlight filling the head and ordering thoughts.
From tamasic fog to sattvic order; then aspiration toward amṛta (deathless stillness).
1) Begin in silence noticing mental disorder. 2) Chant the first two pādas visualizing a sun rising inside the forehead. 3) On the question pādas, offer distractions into the ‘amṛta-dhāma’ (heart or crown) and resolve to stop ‘leakage’ by one chosen restraint.
Tri-svara; keep the interrogative ‘kadā’ with clear udātta rise; maintain contrast between forceful first half and softer questioning second half.
Mark a deliberate pause after ‘cakāra’ to feel the turning; let the final vocative ‘svadhāvaḥ’ land with steadiness, not aggression.
avayunam: articulate v-y cleanly, no extra vowel., sūryeṇa: long ū; palatal y distinct., vayunavat: keep ‘vat’ crisp., amṛtasya: retroflex ṛ; avoid ‘amrit’., iyakṣantaḥ: kṣ cluster clear; nasalization light.
First two pādas firm and bright; last two gentle, inward, prayerful.
13
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.
