Sukta 183
Sukta 10.183
A generative tapas-born power (often read in context with fertility/progeny rites; addressed as a presence to be born)
This brief late-Rigvedic hymn invokes a tapas-born generative Power to “be born” and to bestow progeny, especially a desired son, along with prosperity. The seer claims inner vision of this force as conscious, seasonally laboring, and embodied, culminating in a first-person revelation of an indwelling creatrix who places the embryo in plants and sustains birth across worlds.
Mantras
Mantra 1
अपश्यं त्वा मनसा चेकितानं तपसो जातं तपसो विभूतम् । इह प्रजामिह रयिं रराणः प्र जायस्व प्रजया पुत्रकाम ॥
I beheld thee with the mind, conscious and discerning, born of tapas and made manifest by tapas. Rejoicing here in offspring-force and here in the plenitude of being, be born forth—bring forth by thy creative power, O desire for the son (the new formation).
Mantra 2
अपश्यं त्वा मनसा दीध्यानां स्वायां तनू ऋत्व्ये नाधमानाम् । उप मामुच्चा युवतिर्बभूयाः प्र जायस्व प्रजया पुत्रकामे ॥
I beheld thee with the mind in its kindling, in thine own body, labouring in the right season. Rise up over me and become as a young woman of power; be born forth, bring forth by creative progeny—O desire for the son, O will to a new birth.
Mantra 3
अहं गर्भमदधामोषधीष्वहं विश्वेषु भुवनेष्वन्तः । अहं प्रजा अजनयं पृथिव्यामहं जनिभ्यो अपरीषु पुत्रान् ॥
I set the embryo in the healing powers; I am within all the worlds. I bring forth the becomings upon the earth; I give to births their sons in the far reaches—so creation may continue by my indwelling force.
Frequently Asked Questions
It primarily prays for successful progeny (prajā), especially the blessing of a son in a putrakāma context, along with prosperity (rayi) and life-continuity.
Rather than a single named god like Indra or Agni, the hymn addresses a tapas-born generative Power—an immanent creative presence that brings conception and birth and is described as present within all worlds.
It portrays fertility as a cosmic, life-pervading process: the creative Power ‘places the embryo in the plants,’ linking healing, vitality, and reproduction as one continuous force in nature.