Rig Veda 8.5.12: Mandala 8, Sukta 5, Mantra 12
Sukta 8.5
- Rishi
- Kāṇva/pragātha tradition
- Devata
- Aśvinau
- Chandas
- To be validated
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Vira (heroism)
अस्मभ्यं वाजिनीवसू मघवद्भ्यश्च सप्रथः । छर्दिर्यन्तमदाभ्यम् ॥
asmábhyaṃ vājinīvasū maghávadbhyaś ca sapráthaḥ | chárdir yantám adábhyam ||
Für uns — und für die Freigebigen, die Spender — o Vājinīvasū, Herren sieghafter Kraft und Fülle, bringt weiten Schutz und Obdach, unantastbaren Beistand.
Word by Word
- अस्मभ्यम्
- to us / for usPronounपुं/स्त्री/नपुं (त्रिलिङ्ग), चतुर्थी (सम्प्रदान), एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- वाजिनीवसू
- O Vājinīvasu (O possessor of steeds/wealth)Noun (vocative epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole (सम्बोधन) —Root वाजिनी-वसु (प्रातिपदिक; वाजिनी ‘possessing steeds/strength’ + वसु ‘good/wealthy’)
- मघवद्भ्यः
- to the bountiful ones / to the generousAdjective (used substantively)पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी, बहुवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot मघवत् (प्रातिपदिक ‘bountiful, wealthy’)
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययRoot च (निपात)
- सप्रथः
- wide-spreading / far-extendingAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृ (विशेषणरूपेण स्तुत्यः/देवः)Root स-प्रथस् (प्रातिपदिक; स- ‘well/with’ + प्रथस् ‘breadth, expanse’)
- छर्दिः
- shelter / protectionNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot छर्दिस् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘shelter, protection, covering’)
- यन्तम्
- bringing / bestowingVerbal adjective (present participle)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (यन्तम्)Role कर्म (देवस्य विशेषणम्; ‘him who brings…’)Root यम् (धातु) → यत्/यन्त् (वर्तमान-कृदन्त ‘going, granting/bringing’)
- अदाभ्यम्
- unassailable / not to be deceived or harmedAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्म (विशेषणम्)Root अ-दाभ्य (प्रातिपदिक; नञ् + दाभ्य ‘to be harmed/overreached’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: अस्मभ्यम् | वाजिनीवसू | मघवद्भ्यः | च | सप्रथः || छर्दिः | यन्तम् | अदाभ्यम् || 1) मघवद्भ्यश्च = मघवद्भ्यः + च (विसर्गस्य लोपः, परे ‘च’)
- 2) छर्दिर्यन्तम् = छर्दिः + यन्तम् (विसर्गस्य ‘र्’ आदेशः, परे य्-आदि)
The meaning
Outer meaning
A prayer to the Aśvins (dual gods of swiftness and healing) to bring broad shelter and an unassailable protection for the worshipper and for generous patrons.
Inner meaning
The seeker calls the twin divine Powers of right action and right discernment to establish in the being a wide, stable inner refuge (chardiḥ) and a protection that cannot be overrun by hostile impulses. “Vājinīvasū” becomes the force that carries the yoga forward (victorious dynamism) joined to “vasu” (true wealth of consciousness). “Maghavat” indicates the soul-nature capable of giving—an inner generosity that attracts the gods.
Universal truth
When aspiration is joined with generosity and courageous effort, higher aiding powers consolidate an inner peace-shelter and a protection immune to the assaults of ignorance and fear.
Themes
protection, shelter, expansion, boon-request
The seer
- Rishi
- Kāṇva (Pragātha/Kāṇva tradition of RV 8.5)
- Lineage
- Kāṇva
- Other hymns
- RV 8.5 (Aśvin hymn cluster), RV 8.2–8.6 (Kāṇva sections, various devatās)
Family tradition
Kāṇvas are noted for pragmatic, forceful hymns of invocation—calling swift divine help and translating inspiration into effective inner and outer action (pragātha style often has a direct, urgent tone).
Significance
The Kāṇva voice emphasizes the ‘effective mantra’: aspiration that compels descent of help. Psychologically, it models the soul’s insistence on protection and wideness as prerequisites for illumination.
The deity
- Devata
- Aśvinau (Nāsatyā)
- Epithets
- Aśvinā, Nāsatyā, Nārā (heroic ones), Vājinīvasū
- Related deities
- Uṣas, Sūrya, Indra, Agni, Soma
Cosmic role
Twin powers who arrive swiftly, heal, restore, and carry the sacrifice forward—mediators between darkness and the rising light.
Inner power
The double-force of rapid discernment and effective action: they bring harmony to the nervous-vital being and establish a safe basis for higher workings.
In ritual
Where it is used
Aśvin śastra/stotra contexts in Soma-yajña (general Aśvin invocation); also suitable as a protective prayer within offering sequences.
अ॒स्मभ्यं॑ वाजिनीवसू म॒घव॑द्भ्यश्च स॒प्रथ॑: । छ॒र्दिर्य॑न्त॒मदा॑भ्यम् ॥
अ॒स्मभ्य॑म् । वा॒जि॒नी॒व॒सू॒ इति॑ वाजिनीऽवसू । म॒घव॑त्ऽभ्यः । च॒ । स॒ऽप्रथः॑ । छ॒र्दिः । य॒न्त॒म् । अदा॑भ्यम् ॥
asmabhyam | vājinīvasūitivājinī-vasū | maghavat-bhyaḥ | ca | sa-prathaḥ | chardiḥ | yantam | adābhyam
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4 pādas × ~11 syllables
Forward-driving, declarative cadence suited to invocation and protection-formulas.
Builds confidence and wideness; the rhythm ‘sets’ a protective field and steadies the breath-mind.
- वाजिनीवसू (vājinīvasū)
- Literal: lords of vājinī (winning force/steeds) and vasu (wealth). Symbolic: twin powers of victorious dynamism and true inner riches that support sādhanā
- मघवद्भ्यः (maghavadbhyaḥ)
- Literal: to/for the bountiful, generous. Symbolic: to those in whom the giving soul-nature is active; inner generosity that widens consciousness
- सप्रथः (sa-prathaḥ)
- Literal: wide-spreading, broad. Symbolic: expansive peace and wideness of consciousness
- छर्दिः (chardiḥ)
- Literal: covering, shelter, protection. Symbolic: inner refuge/peace-canopy that guards the heart and mind
- अदाभ्यम् (adābhyam)
- Literal: not to be deceived/overpowered. Symbolic: invulnerable spiritual protection against the ‘coverer’ forces
Protective boon within Soma rite: chardiḥ (shelter) and adābhya (invincibility) for sacrificers.
During Aśvin praise sections; at moments seeking safe passage, healing, or successful completion of rite.
Recitation with offering/oblations; calling the twins to ‘come’ and establish shelter.
Use as a daily protective invocation before meditation or travel; recite to establish inner wideness and immunity from anxiety.
vājinī relates to vāja (strength/prize/plenitude), often from √vaj/√vāj ‘be strong, impel’; thus ‘vājinīvasū’ = lords of impelling plenitude and wealth. prath (prathaḥ) from √prath ‘spread, expand’ (PIE *pleth₂- ‘broad’). chardiḥ ‘shelter’ is RV-protective diction. adābhya from √dabh ‘to deceive, harm’ with privative a-.
invincibility against inner falsehood (a-dābhya), expansion (prath) as widening of consciousness
Aśvins stabilize the ordered movement by preventing the fall into disorder (anṛta) through healing and right adjustment.
Adābhya protection symbolizes the truth-guard that falsehood cannot breach.
Wideness (prathā) as a sign of the expanding consciousness needed for manifestation of higher light.
Proto-Vedāntic / integral-yogic reading (Aurobindo/Kashyap): gods as powers of consciousness, yajña as inner transformation.
dawn-leaning (Aśvin atmosphere)
A protective canopy of peace over the mind-vital; energizing force aligned to truth.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The granting of chardiḥ (shelter) and adābhya (unassailable protection) is the mythologem of divine guardianship: the gods establish a safe inner space where the seeker can grow and win without being ‘deceived’ by hostile powers.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √prath ‘spread’ relates to PIE *pleth₂- ‘broad, flat’ (cf. Greek platýs ‘broad’). The privative a- in adābhya is an inherited Indo-European morphological feature (negating prefix).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The r̥ṣi speaks for a community of givers (maghavat) and seeks not only gain but a stable, wide protection—suggesting that generosity and right offering align the human with divine safeguarding powers.
Establishing inner shelter (chardiḥ) and invoking swift harmonizing help in the mind-vital.
Anāhata (heart wideness and safety)
Nādi-śodhana (gentle) followed by slow exhale with the word-feel of ‘sa-prathaḥ’.
Protected wideness (śānti with alert strength).
Begin with a sincere offering of your day’s energies; recite 3–9 times, imagining a broad luminous canopy forming above and around the heart and head; end by resting in quiet receptivity to ‘unassailable’ steadiness.
Use Vedic accenting per śākhā: observe udatta peaks on accented syllables; svarita as falling tone after udatta; anudatta as low. (Exact pada-svara requires pada-text with accent marks from a recensional source.)
Keep the invocation-words clear: vājinīvasū, sa-prathaḥ, chardiḥ, adābhyam; let the main udatta carry the ‘call’ and the cadence soften on the closing protection-word.
vājinīvasū: long ī and long ū; avoid collapsing vowels, maghavadbhyaś: keep ‘dbhyaś’ conjunct crisp, chardiḥ: retroflex ‘ḍh’ not present—use clear dental ‘d’? (Here it is chardiḥ with ‘rdh’ cluster: articulate r + dh), adābhyam: long ā; ‘bhy’ conjunct voiced
Steady, warm, protective; slightly fuller tone on ‘sa-prathaḥ’.
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