Rig Veda 8.16.7: Mandala 8, Sukta 16, Mantra 7
Sukta 8.16
- Rishi
- Kāṇva tradition
- Devata
- Indra
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Adbhuta (wonder)
इन्द्रो ब्रह्मेन्द्र ऋषिरिन्द्रः पुरू पुरुहूतः । महान्महीभिः शचीभिः ॥
índro brahméndra ṛ́ṣir índraḥ purū́ puruhūtáḥ | mahā́n mahī́bhiḥ śácībhiḥ ||
Indra ist das Brahman, das heilige Wort; Indra ist der Ṛṣi, der Seher. Indra ist reich, vielfach, vielgerufen. Groß ist er durch seine mächtigen Śakti, die Kräfte wirksamen Willens.
Word by Word
- इन्द्रः
- IndraNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- ब्रह्म
- sacred utterance; prayer; brahmanNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया; एकवचन (वेदिक रूप: ब्रह्म)Role कर्तृ (समनाधिकरण/विशेषण-भावे)Root ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
- इन्द्रः
- IndraNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- ऋषिः
- seer; ṛṣiNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole कर्तृ (समनाधिकरण/विशेषण-भावे)Root ऋषि (प्रातिपदिक)
- इन्द्रः
- IndraNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- पुरू
- much; many; abundantAdjective(अव्ययवत्/वेदिक विशेषण) पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन—इन्द्रस्य विशेषणम्Role कर्तृ (समनाधिकरण/विशेषण)Root पुरु (प्रातिपदिक)
- पुरुहूतः
- much-invoked; often called uponAdjective (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन—इन्द्रस्य विशेषणम्Role कर्तृ (समनाधिकरण/विशेषण)Root पुरुहूत (प्रातिपदिक; बहुव्रीहि/कर्मधारय-समास: पुरु + हूत < √ह्वे/हू ‘आह्वाने’)
- महान्
- greatAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन—इन्द्रस्य विशेषणम्Role कर्तृ (समनाधिकरण/विशेषण)Root महत् (प्रातिपदिक)
- महीभिः
- with great (powers/forces); with mightsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; तृतीया; बहुवचनRole करणRoot मही (प्रातिपदिक)
- शचीभिः
- with powers; with effective skills/energiesNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; तृतीया; बहुवचनRole करणRoot शची (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (सन्धि-निरसन): इन्द्रः | ब्रह्म | इन्द्रः | ऋषिः | इन्द्रः | पुरू | पुरुहूतः | महान् | महीभिः | शचीभिः । विशेष: ‘इन्द्रो’ = इन्द्रः (विसर्ग-लोपः पदान्ते)
- ‘महान्महीभिः’ = महान् + महीभिः (न् + म् → न्म्). स्वर/उच्चारण-सूचना: मन्त्रपाठे उदात्त/स्वरित चिह्न (॑, ॒) पदानां वैदिकस्वरं दर्शयन्ति
- पदच्छेदे मूलरूपाणि दर्शितानि।
The meaning
Outer meaning
Indra is declared as brahmā (the sacred utterance/priestly power) and ṛṣi (seer); he is puru/puruhūta (abundant, many-invoked) and great through his mighty śacīs (effective powers).
Inner meaning
The illumined Mind (Indra) is not merely a god to be praised; it is the very power in us that becomes mantra (brahma), vision (ṛṣi), and effective force (śacī). When the seeker repeatedly invokes this inner Indra, the consciousness gathers a many-sided abundance (puru) and a wide responsiveness to the call (puruhūta), and the will becomes “great” because it acts with luminous intelligence rather than desire.
Universal truth
True mastery arises when knowledge, vision, and will are unified: the awakened intelligence becomes both the seeing and the shaping word, and its effective powers can transform life when sincerely invoked from many parts of the being.
Themes
identity-hymn, Indra-as-brahman, Indra-as-seer, power-of-mantra
The seer
- Rishi
- Kāṇva (Kāṇva tradition)
- Lineage
- Kāṇva
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 8.16 (entire sūkta context), Rig Veda 8.2, Rig Veda 8.3, Rig Veda 8.4
Family tradition
Mandala 8 is predominantly associated with the Kāṇvas; hymns often emphasize Indra’s dynamic help and the psychology of victory/illumination.
Significance
The Kāṇva voice frequently frames Indra as an inner ally: the force that turns mantra into realization and converts aspiration into victorious illumination.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- puru, puruhūta, mahān
- Related deities
- Agni, Soma, Bṛhaspati, Uṣas
Cosmic role
Lord of the luminous heaven (svarga) who releases the waters/light and establishes expansive order by overcoming the coverer.
Inner power
The decisive, clarifying intelligence that converts inspired speech into effective transformation; the will that acts from light.
In ritual
Where it is used
Indra-stotra in Soma liturgy: affirmation of Indra as brahman (mantric power) and ṛṣi (seer-force) supporting the sacrificer’s inner right-vision and victory.
इन्द्रो॑ ब्र॒ह्मेन्द्र॒ ऋषि॒रिन्द्र॑: पु॒रू पु॑रुहू॒तः । म॒हान्म॒हीभि॒: शची॑भिः ॥
इन्द्रः॑ । ब्र॒ह्मा । इन्द्रः॑ । ऋषिः॑ । इन्द्रः॑ । पु॒रु । पु॒रु॒ऽहू॒तः । म॒हान् । म॒हीभिः॑ । शची॑भिः ॥
indraḥ | brahmā | indraḥ | ṛṣiḥ | indraḥ | puru | puru-hūtaḥ | mahān | mahībh iḥ | śacībhiḥ
Not determined from provided data.
Declarative, hammering identifications (Indra is… Indra is…) creating emphatic invocation.
Builds concentration through repetition; reinforces a single inner focus until it feels self-evident.
- इन्द्र (indra)
- Literal: Indra, Vedic deity. Symbolic: Illumined Mind; power of luminous intelligence that breaks obstruction
- ब्रह्मा (brahmā)
- Literal: sacred word; priestly utterance. Symbolic: Mantric power that shapes consciousness; formative truth-word
- ऋषि (ṛṣi)
- Literal: seer. Symbolic: Inner faculty of direct vision (dṛṣṭi) that receives truth
- पुरु (puru)
- Literal: much, abundant. Symbolic: Many-sided plenitude of force and knowledge
- पुरुहूत (puru-hūta)
- Literal: much-invoked. Symbolic: The Power that answers repeated inner call across the being
- शची (śacī)
- Literal: skill, power, effective means. Symbolic: Luminous efficacy of will—intelligent force that accomplishes
Indra-stotra in Soma liturgy: affirmation of Indra as brahman (mantric power) and ṛṣi (seer-force) supporting the sacrificer’s inner right-vision and victory.
Use as a short japa-mantra to invoke clarity and effective will before study, decision-making, or meditation; contemplate ‘Indra as brahma and ṛṣi’—speech and sight unified.
brahman/brahmā: from √bṛh ‘to grow, expand, make great’ → ‘that which enlarges’: the expansive mantric formulation and spiritual force; ṛṣi: from √ṛṣ ‘to flow/move, to see/know’ (Vedic semantic: inspired seer); puru: ‘many’ (PIE *pl̥h₁u- ‘many’ often compared, though exact mapping debated); hūta: from √hū ‘to call/invoke’ → ‘invoked’; mahī: from √mah ‘to be great’; śacī: traditionally ‘might, skill, effective power’ (possibly tied to √śak ‘to be able’ in semantic neighborhood, though śacī is lexically distinct).
Brahman as creative word-power, seerhood (ṛṣi) as mode of truth-knowledge, greatness (mah) as expansion of consciousness
Indra’s śacīs represent ṛta in action—effective powers that set life into right movement.
Indra as brahmā/ṛṣi links truth-word with truth-vision.
Manifestation through Word and Vision—consciousness becomes formative when illumined.
Proto-Vedāntic/Integral (Aurobindonian) reading: consciousness-force (cit-śakti) acting as illumined mind.
The ‘sky’ is the clarified mental plane; Indra’s greatness is the widening of that plane and its efficacy in life.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Not a single battle episode, but the ‘identity’ mythologem: Indra is equated with brahman and ṛṣi—i.e., the god is simultaneously the power of the Word and the power of inspired seeing, the twin instruments by which obstruction is overcome.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- The copular-ascriptive style (‘Indraḥ X, Indraḥ Y’) is an archaic Indo-European poetic device of equation and intensification. puru ‘many’ has Indo-European parallels in the ‘many/much’ lexicon, while √hū ‘call’ has functional cognates in PIE *ḱlew- ‘hear’ (semantic field of fame/calling), though not a direct etymon; the hymn style emphasizes formulaic repetition typical of inherited oral poetics.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi’s own instruments—word (brahman) and vision (ṛṣi)—are declared to be Indra himself: the seer does not merely praise Indra but recognizes Indra as the operative consciousness within the act of seeing and chanting.
Unify speech, vision, and will: feel a luminous intelligence forming the right word and right decision inside.
Ājñā (brow) as seat of clear seeing; also Viśuddha for truth-word (brahma).
Gentle nāḍī-śodhana 6–6 or 6–6–6 (inhale-hold-exhale) before chanting to steady mind.
Collected, bright, decisive (sattva with dynamic tapas).
After chanting, sit silently and watch for the ‘right thought’ that arrives with force and simplicity; act only from that clarity (śacī).
Not provided; follow standard Rigvedic recitation with udatta/anudatta/svarita as per śākhā tradition (requires pada+accented text of the śākhā).
Emphasize the repeated ‘indraḥ’ as the anchor; keep ‘mahān mahībhiḥ śacībhiḥ’ rising in force toward the close.
indraḥ: final ḥ lightly aspirated, ṛṣi: vocalic ṛ (as in ‘ri’ but retroflexed, short), puru-hūtaḥ: clear hū (long ū), śacībhiḥ: śa (palatal), long ī, bh is aspirated
Clear, ringing, affirmative; avoid heaviness—aim for bright steadiness.
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