Rig Veda 9.11.2: Mandala 9, Sukta 11, Mantra 2
Sukta 9.11
अभि ते मधुना पयोऽथर्वाणो अशिश्रयुः । देवं देवाय देवयु ॥
abhí te mádhunā páyo átharvāṇo aśiśrayuḥ | deváṃ devā́ya deva-yú ||
The Atharvans have leaned to you with honeyed milk; the divine is borne toward the Divine—one who longs for the gods.
Soma offering enriched with milk/honey imagery; Atharvan tradition invoked as guarantor of effective, ancient consecration in Soma rites
delight (madhu) as substance of realization, nourishment of the inner being (payaḥ), aspiration (devayú) as motive force
Right offering (ṛta) requires the proper ‘mixture’: sweetness (joy) aligned with clarity (payaḥ).
The ‘milk’ aspect suggests truth-substance supporting delight so it can reach the Divine without distortion.
Essences (rasa) transmute and ascend; the human refines experience into an offering, enabling divine response.
Integral Vedic psychology: transformation of rasa (experience) into Ananda aligned with Truth.
Milk = luminous nourishment; honey = sweetness of Ananda; leaning = sustained concentration; offering upward = ascent of consciousness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘honeyed milk’ and ‘divine to the Divine’: Soma as a divinity is strengthened by sweetness and nourishment, then carried to a higher divine station—an ascent of delight to delight. The Atharvans represent the primordial efficacy that makes the offering a true bridge.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- madhu is a clear IE inheritance (*médʰu). The verse also shows a typical IE poetic parallelism: substance terms (madhu, payaḥ) encode abstract experience (delight, essence), while deva/devāya creates a reflexive divine circuit (‘the divine to the divine’).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi situates the human tradition (Atharvans) as the channel that rightly ‘leans’ the offering toward Soma; Soma, made sweet and full, becomes the aspirant (devayú) that draws the sacrificer into communion with higher divine powers.
Cultivate a ‘honeyed clarity’: let joy become calm and luminous, then offer it upward to the higher Self.
Anāhata (sweet devotion) with Ājñā (clarity)
Inhale: feel ‘payaḥ’ (cool clarity) filling the head; exhale: feel ‘madhu’ (sweet warmth) filling the heart; then offer upward on a long exhale.
Devotional concentration moving into uplifted offering and receptive stillness.
Before japa, recall one pure joy; refine it by sincerity and quiet mind; then mentally ‘carry’ it to the Divine as a gift, without demand.
Maintain clear udātta on key offering words; keep ‘devam devāya’ as a single rising intention.
Do not over-pause at ‘payo’; let the phrase flow into the Atharvan action-word aśiśrayuḥ.
: dental ‘dh’, short u, : ‘payaḥ’ visarga lightly before consonant/pause, : clear ‘thar’, retroflex ‘ṇ’, : split as deva-yu, keep ‘yu’ light
warm, steady, devotional
9
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