Rig Veda 8.21.3: Mandala 8, Sukta 21, Mantra 3
Sukta 8.21
- Devata
- Indra
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace)
आ याहीम इन्दवोऽश्वपते गोपत उर्वरापते । सोमं सोमपते पिब ॥
ā́ yāhīmá índavo 'śva-pate gó-pata úrvārā-pate | sómaṃ soma-pate piba ||
Come here—these pressed Soma streams call thee: O lord of the horse-force, lord of the radiant herds, lord of the wide fields of growth; O Soma-lord, drink the Soma—take into thee the delight that strengthens the inner mastery.
Word by Word
- आ
- hither, towards (preverb: ‘to/near’)Indeclinableउपसर्ग (क्रियाविशेषक)Root आ (उपसर्ग) / ā (preverb)
- या॑हि
- come! (go hither!)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदRoot या (धातु) / yā- ‘to go’
- इ॒म
- this (one), himPronounपुंलिङ्ग (वेदे प्रायः), द्वितीया, एकवचन (एन्/इम-प्रयोगः) — ‘him/this (one)’Role KarmaRoot इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) / idam
- इन्दवः
- O Indus (Soma-drops)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole Kartā (सम्बोधनार्थे/वाक्य-प्रवर्तक) / Vocative-like addressRoot इन्दु (प्रातिपदिक) / indu- ‘drop; Soma’
- अश्वपते
- O lord of horsesNoun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole Sampradāna (सम्बोधन/आह्वान) / AddresseeRoot अश्वपति (समास-प्रातिपदिक) / aśva-pati- ‘lord of horses’
- गोपते
- O lord of cowsNoun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole Sampradāna (सम्बोधन/आह्वान) / AddresseeRoot गोपति (समास-प्रातिपदिक) / go-pati- ‘lord of cows’
- उर्वरापते
- O lord of the fertile landNoun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole Sampradāna (सम्बोधन/आह्वान) / AddresseeRoot उर्वरापति (समास-प्रातिपदिक) / urvarā-pati- ‘lord of the fertile field’
- सोमम्
- Soma (the drink)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot सोम (प्रातिपदिक) / soma-
- सोमपते
- O lord of SomaNoun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole Sampradāna (सम्बोधन/आह्वान) / AddresseeRoot सोमपति (समास-प्रातिपदिक) / soma-pati- ‘lord of Soma’
- पिब
- drink!Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदRoot पा (धातु) / pā- ‘to drink’
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (Vedic sandhi resolved): आ | या॑हि | इ॒म | इन्दवः | अश्वपते | गोपते | उर्वरापते | सोमम् | सोमपते | पिब । मुख्य-सन्धिः: (1) ‘आ’ + ‘या॑हि’ = ‘आ या॑हि’ (उपसर्ग-योगः, विशेष-सन्धि-परिवर्तनं न). (2) ‘इन्दवोऽश्वपते’ = ‘इन्दवः’ + ‘अश्वपते’ : विसर्गस्य ‘ओ’ (o) रूपेण परिवर्तनं, तथा अवग्रहः ‘ऽ’ (RV संहितायाम्). (3) ‘गोपत॒ उर्व॑रापते’ = ‘गोपते’ + ‘उर्वरापते’ : ए-उ संधिः (e + u → eu), संहितायां ‘गोपत॒ उर्व॑…’ इति लेखनम्
- पदपाठे ‘गोपते | उर्वरापते’
The meaning
Outer meaning
Come here, O Indu/Soma: these pressed Soma streams call you—lord of horses, lord of cows, lord of wide fields. O Soma-lord, drink the Soma.
Inner meaning
The mantra calls the descending delight (Soma/indu) to enter the being. Indra is addressed in Soma’s lordship (somapate): the illumined mind must receive and assimilate bliss for true mastery. ‘Horse-lord’ (aśvapati) is mastery over vital energies for action; ‘cow-lord’ (gopati) is mastery over rays of knowledge; ‘field-lord’ (urvarāpati) is mastery over the wide inner ground where growth occurs. The pressed streams (ime indavaḥ) are the distilled experiences and concentrated aspirations prepared by practice; they invite the divine to drink—i.e., to take into itself and intensify the offering, returning it as strengthened consciousness.
Universal truth
Joy is not a byproduct but a power of transformation; when bliss is received by illumined intelligence, vitality, knowledge, and growth become harmonized and fruitful.
Themes
Soma invitation, Indra as master, inner growth, delight-power
The seer
Significance
The verse reflects a classic Soma-psychology: delight is invoked as a real force. The anonymity emphasizes that Soma is a universal experience of the sacrifice, not restricted to a single seer’s personal myth.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra (as Somapati / receiver and lord of Soma)
- Epithets
- Somapati, Aśvapati, Gopati, Urvarāpati
- Related deities
- Soma, Agni, Bṛhaspati, Aśvins
Cosmic role
Receives Soma and, empowered by it, releases light and victory; governs the energies (horses), illuminations (cows), and growth-fields (urvarā).
Inner power
The illumined mind that can ‘drink’ bliss—assimilate ananda without intoxication of ego—then direct life-force and knowledge toward growth.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma pressing and offering; invitatory to the Soma-drinking deity
आ या॑ही॒म इन्द॒वोऽश्व॑पते॒ गोप॑त॒ उर्व॑रापते । सोमं॑ सोमपते पिब ॥
आ । या॒हि॒ । इ॒मे । इन्द॑वः । अश्व॑ऽपते । गोऽप॑ते । उर्व॑राऽपते । सोम॑म् । सो॒म॒ऽप॒ते॒ । पि॒ब॒ ॥
ā | yāhi | ime | indavaḥ | aśva-pate | go--pate | urvarāpate | somam | soma-pate | piba
Gāyatrī (common for concise invocations; 3 pādas)
24
3 pādas of 8 syllables (approx.), with direct imperative cadence (ā yāhi… piba).
Quick, luminous, mantra-like; repeated vocatives create a beckoning rhythm.
Invites sweetness and clarity; suitable for drawing down delight into the nervous system.
- इन्दवः (indavaḥ)
- Literal: Soma drops/streams. Symbolic: currents of delight distilled from experience and aspiration
- सोम (soma)
- Literal: Soma, nectar. Symbolic: divine bliss-substance, ananda in consciousness
- सोमपते (somapate)
- Literal: lord of Soma. Symbolic: the power that governs and rightly enjoys bliss—illumined mind mastering delight
- अश्वपते (aśvapate)
- Literal: lord of horses. Symbolic: master of vital energies, disciplined life-force for action
- गोपते (gopate)
- Literal: lord of cows. Symbolic: master of rays of light/knowledge; protector of illuminations
- उर्वरापते (urvarāpate)
- Literal: lord of fertile fields. Symbolic: sovereignty over the inner field of growth—expansive consciousness capable of cultivation
Direct Soma invitation: Indra summoned to drink Soma; standard in Soma sacrifices (Agnisṭoma and related pressings).
At Soma-libation moments (somapāna), calling the deity to drink
Offering Soma; chanting during libation
Use to invoke calm joy before meditation; also to stabilize after intense effort by calling ananda to govern prāṇa and thought.
√yā ‘go/come’ PIE *h₁ey- ‘to go’. índu- ‘drop, bright drop’ (also ‘moon’ later). √pā ‘drink’ PIE *peh₃- (cf. Latin pōtus ‘drunk’). go- ‘cow/ray’ (polysemy supports symbolic reading). urvárā ‘fertile field’ from uru ‘wide’ + √vṛ/var? (traditional: ‘broad, fertile ground’).
Soma as bliss/substance of immortality, mastery of energies (aśva) and illuminations (go), growth-field (urvarā) as inner wideness
Right enjoyment: Soma must be ‘drunk’ by the rightful lord so bliss serves order, not disorder.
Bliss supports truth-perception—gopati as guardian of rays of knowledge.
Cultivation and growth: urvarā as the inner earth made fertile by Soma.
Vedāntic-Ananda emphasis (Aurobindonian): bliss as substance of higher consciousness.
dawn (often associated with Soma pressing and awakening currents, though not explicit)
Soma streams = ananda-currents; horses = prāṇic energies; cows = light-rays; fields = inner being ready for growth.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythologem is ‘Indra’s Soma-drinking’: the god is summoned to drink the pressed Soma. Inwardly, the Indra-force in the seeker is nourished by delight (Soma), which increases mastery over dynamic energies (aśva), illuminations (go), and the wide field of growth (urvarā).
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √pā ‘drink’ is a classic PIE root (*peh₃-), reflected across IE. The ritual act of ‘drinking’ as empowerment is also broadly Indo-European: ingestion as assimilation of divine potency.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi offers Soma and calls Indra to partake; the implied return is the strengthening of Indra’s help—victory, protection, and enlargement. It is a direct reciprocity: offering of delight-substance for the descent of sovereign force.
Receive ananda consciously; let it govern prāṇa (aśva), illumine thought (go), and widen the inner field (urvarā).
Anahata (sweetness/devotion) and Sahasrara (nectar-like descent)
Slow nasal inhale imagining ‘indavaḥ’ rising; long exhale offering it upward; pause and inwardly repeat ‘somam… piba’.
Receptive, sweet, widened; joy without excitement.
After a few repetitions, sit silently and feel a gentle ‘nectar’ spreading from crown to heart; then direct it into action-energy to calm and steady the vital.
Imperatives ‘ā yāhi’ and ‘piba’ take clear udatta lift; vocatives (aśvapate, gopate, urvarāpate, somapate) chanted with bright emphasis.
Make each ‘-pate’ a crisp cadence; keep ‘ime indavaḥ’ flowing like liquid.
‘ā yāhi’: sustain both long ā and long ā in yā-., ‘urvarāpate’: ur-va-rā-pa-te, long ā., ‘piba’: short i, light but definite b.
Softly luminous, ‘nectar-like’; avoid harshness.
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