Mantra 16

Sukta 132

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

नीलशिखण्डवाहनः

IAST Transliteration

nī́laśikhaṇḍavā́hanaḥ

English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)

The dark-blue, crested Bearer—he whose vehicle (or bearing) is the plume.

Word by Word

• नील: blue, dark-blue
• नील: Kartā (सम्बन्धेन—समासेन कर्तृपदस्य विशेषणम्)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नील (प्रातिपदिक) < नील (वर्ण-विशेषः)

• शिखण्ड: crest, tuft, plume (topknot)
• शिखण्ड: Kartā (सम्बन्धेन—समासेन कर्तृपदस्य विशेषणम्)
• Type: Noun (used adjectivally in compound)
• Root: शिखण्ड (प्रातिपदिक) < शिखा/शिखण्ड (कलापः, शिरोभूषणम्)

• वाहनः: carrier; one who bears; having as a vehicle/mount
• वाहनः: Kartā (वाक्ये कर्तृपदम्/उद्देश्यः)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाहन (प्रातिपदिक) < √वह् (वहति) + ल्युट्/अन (कृदन्त-निर्मितः नाम)

Attribution

Rishi: Uncertain (late/khila-style epithet; not reliably assignable from the isolated line).

Devata: Unclear from the isolated epithet; possibly a marked spirit/deity characterized as ‘blue-crested bearer’.

Chandas: Not determinable from a single epithet (non-metrical/name-formula usage possible).

Mantra Rasa

{"primary_rasa":"bhayankara","secondary_rasa":"raudra","emotional_arc":"A sudden naming that shifts fear into control.","listener_experience":"Alertness; sense of confronting a marked presence.","intensity":7}