Rig Veda 7.36.3: Mandala 7, Sukta 36, Mantra 3
Sukta 7.36
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Devata
- Mitrāvaruṇā
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Vira (heroism)
आ वातस्य ध्रजतो रन्त इत्या अपीपयन्त धेनवो न सूदाः । महो दिवः सदने जायमानोऽचिक्रदद्वृषभः सस्मिन्नूधन् ॥
ā́ vā́tasya dhrajáto rante ityā́ḥ apī́payanta dhenávo ná sū́dāḥ | mahó diváḥ sádane jā́yamāno 'cíkṛdad vṛṣabháḥ sasmínn ū́dhan ||
Hacia el estandarte que fluye del Viento avanzan con deleite; las potencias dadoras se hinchan como vacas de leche, ricas en savia. Nacido en la gran sede del Cielo, el Toro brama en esa ubre, exprimiendo la abundancia de un alimento luminoso.
Word by Word
- आ
- towards; untoIndeclinableउपसर्ग (preverb)Root आ (उपसर्ग) / ā (preverb)
- वातस्य
- of the windNounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitive relation)Root वात (prātipadika)
- ध्रजतः
- of the banner/streamer (i.e., the wind’s ‘banner’)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitive relation)Root ध्रज (prātipadika)
- रन्ते
- they rejoice / take delightVerbलट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचनRole क्रियाRoot रम् (धातु)
- इति
- thusIndeclinableनिपातRoot इति (particle)
- आ
- towards; forthIndeclinableउपसर्गRoot आ (उपसर्ग) / ā (preverb)
- अपीपयन्त
- they caused to swell / they filledVerbलुङ् (अorist), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; causative sense ‘to make swell/fill’Role क्रियाRoot पी (धातु) / पायय् caus.
- धेनवः
- the milch-cowsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot धेनु (prātipadika)
- न
- likeIndeclinableउपमा-निपातRoot न (particle)
- सूदाḥ
- pressers/servers (ritual attendants); (here) as ‘good milkers/pressers’Nounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृ (appositional to धेनवः) / उपमानRoot सूदा (prātipadika)
- महो
- of the greatAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन (Vedic form: महो = महतः)Role सम्बन्धRoot महत् (prātipadika)
- दिवः
- of heaven/skyNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole सम्बन्धRoot दिव्/द्यौ (prātipadika)
- सदने
- in the seat/dwellingNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचनRole अधिकरणRoot सदन (prātipadika)
- जायमानः
- being born; coming into beingParticipleपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; वर्तमानकाले आत्मनेपद कृदन्तRole कर्तृ (of the following action)Root जन् (धातु) → जायमान (present middle participle)
- अचिक्रदत्
- he cried out / roaredVerbलुङ् (अorist), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRole क्रियाRoot क्रन्द् (धातु) with reduplication (intensive/iterative aorist formation)
- वृषभः
- the bull (strong one)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot वृषभ (prātipadika)
- सस्मिन्
- in that (place/one)Pronounपुं/नपुंसक, सप्तमी, एकवचनRole अधिकरणRoot तद् (sarvanāman) → सस्मिन् (Vedic strengthened form)
- ऊधन्
- in the udder (source of milk/abundance)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन (Vedic locative)Role अधिकरणRoot ऊधन् (prātipadika)
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolution (pada-splitting): आ वातस्य ध्रजतः रन्ते इति आ अपीपयन्त धेनवः न सूदाः । महो दिवः सदने जायमानः अचिक्रदत् वृषभः सस्मिन् ऊधन् ॥ Notes: (1) इ॒त्या = इति + आ (vowel coalescence i + ā → yā)
- (2) अपीपयन्त is a causative aorist ‘they made swell/fill’
- (3) महो is Vedic gen.sg
- of महत् (= महतः)
- (4) सस्मिन् is a Vedic strengthened loc.sg
- of तद् (classical तस्मिन्)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Toward the streaming banner of the Wind they move with delight; the giving powers swell like milch-cows. Born in the great seat of Heaven, the Bull cries out in that udder.
Inner meaning
The ‘Wind’ (Vāta) is the life-breath and dynamic movement of prāṇa in the being; its ‘banner’ (dhraja) is the visible current-sign of life-force when it streams freely. The powers of giving (dhenavaḥ—nourishing energies) swell with sap when the prāṇic movement is rightly directed. From the great seat of Heaven—higher consciousness—there is a birth of the ‘Bull’ (vṛṣabha), symbol of potent force and luminous virility of the spirit; it ‘cries out’ in the udder, i.e., it presses forth abundance of nourishing light-substance into the lower nature. In the Mitra-Varuṇa context, this imagery suggests that when truth and harmony govern, prāṇa becomes a joyful carrier and the higher force can pour its nourishment into life.
Universal truth
When the life-force moves in a true direction, higher consciousness can descend as a powerful, nourishing energy that feeds and transforms the whole nature.
Themes
Life-breath dynamism, Birth of force in the luminous seat, Cow-as-knowledge stream, Abundance/pressing forth
The seer
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Lineage
- Vasiṣṭha (Maitrāvaruṇi)
- Other hymns
- RV 7.36, RV 7.86, RV 7.60-7.66
Family tradition
Uses vivid psycho-physical symbols (wind, cows, bull) to describe the dynamics of inner descent and nourishment under ṛta.
Significance
Vasiṣṭha often depicts transformation as a cooperation of prāṇa (vāta), illumination (divaḥ), and nourishing powers (dhenavaḥ), culminating in a strong descent-force (vṛṣabha).
The deity
- Devata
- Mitrāvaruṇā (contextual), with Vāta imagery as instrument
- Epithets
- maho divaḥ sadane (linked to the great heavenly seat), adabdho (contextual unerring guardianship from prior verse)
- Related deities
- Vāta/Vāyu, Indra (bull-force), Soma (nourishing delight)
Cosmic role
Mitra-Varuṇa govern the right movement so that prāṇa flows correctly and higher force can be born and pour nourishment; Vāta acts as carrier of movement.
Inner power
Regulated prāṇa that becomes joyful and abundant; descent of a potent force from higher consciousness into the ‘udder’ of inner plenitude.
In ritual
Where it is used
Praise within Mitra-Varuṇa hymn; can accompany offerings seeking abundance, right movement, and nourishment in the rite.
आ वात॑स्य॒ ध्रज॑तो रन्त इ॒त्या अपी॑पयन्त धे॒नवो॒ न सूदा॑: । म॒हो दि॒वः सद॑ने॒ जाय॑मा॒नोऽचि॑क्रदद्वृष॒भः सस्मि॒न्नूध॑न् ॥
आ वात॑स्य । ध्रज॑तः । र॒न्ते॒ । इ॒त्याः । अपी॑पयन्त । धे॒नवः॑ । न । सूदाः॑ । म॒हः । दि॒वः । सद॑ने । जाय॑मानः । अचि॑क्रदत् । वृ॒ष॒भः । सस्मि॑न् । ऊध॑न् ॥
ā vātasya | dhrajataḥ | rante | ityāḥ | apīpayanta | dhenavaḥ | na | sūdāḥ | mahaḥ | divaḥ | sadane | jāyamānaḥ | acikradat | vṛṣabhaḥ | sasmin | ūdhan
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4 × ~11 syllables (probable Triṣṭubh)
Surging and kinetic; mimics wind-streaming and swelling nourishment.
Stirs prāṇa, then stabilizes into a sense of fullness and descending strength.
- vāta
- Literal: wind. Symbolic: prāṇa; life-force movement
- dhraja
- Literal: banner, streaming flag. Symbolic: sign/current of awakened prāṇa; directive movement
- rante
- Literal: they delight. Symbolic: the energies consent joyfully when aligned
- dhenavaḥ
- Literal: milch-cows. Symbolic: nourishing powers that yield substance/energy; streams of support
- sūdāḥ
- Literal: givers, rich in sap. Symbolic: abundant capacities to nourish the sādhanā
- maho divaḥ sadane
- Literal: in the great seat of heaven. Symbolic: in the higher plane of consciousness (wide mind/supermind)
- vṛṣabhaḥ
- Literal: bull. Symbolic: powerful descending force; virile spiritual energy
- ūdhan
- Literal: udder. Symbolic: source of nourishment; the field from which abundance is milked—inner plenitude
Recitation in Soma-related praise sequences; imagery supports 'pressing forth' (sū) and abundance motifs.
During invocations for right order and prosperity; moments emphasizing ‘flow’ and increase (puṣṭi).
Recitation with oblations, aligning prāṇa and inviting descent of strength and nourishment.
Use when energy feels blocked: chant to reorient prāṇa toward a higher directive, then sit to receive a sense of inner nourishment.
Key roots/terms: (1) √ram (rante) 'to delight, rest, enjoy' → indicates harmonious movement of powers. (2) dhraja 'banner/streamer' with imagery of wind-driven motion; inner sense: a sign of prāṇic dynamism. (3) apīpayanta from √pyā 'to swell, grow, become abundant' (causative) → filling the inner vessels. (4) dhenú 'milch-cow' (PIE *dʰenh₂- 'to suckle' debated) → Vedic symbol for yielding light/knowledge. (5) √sū (sūdāḥ) 'to beget/press out' → productive outflow. (6) √krand 'to cry out' intensifies the manifestation of force (vṛṣabha). (7) ūdhan 'udder' as container/source of flow; supports psychological reading as reservoir of luminous abundance.
Bṛhat/Mahas (the Vast), Manifestation/birth (jāyamāna), Plenitude through right flow (inner abundance)
Right order expresses as right movement of life-force; misalignment causes turbulence, alignment yields abundance.
The ‘great seat of heaven’ implies a truth-plane origin for the descending force.
Birth (jāyamānaḥ) of higher force into manifestation; nourishment as a creative outflow.
Psychological Veda: wind and cattle imagery encode prāṇic regulation and release of knowledge-nourishment.
Wind = breath/life-current; banner = directional prāṇic stream; cows/milk = nourishing energies/insights; bull = powerful descent-force; udder = inner source of plenitude.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘cows swelling with milk’ and the ‘bull crying in the udder’ mythic complex: the hidden abundance of light/force is made to increase and resound when the powers move with the Wind’s impetus. It is a micro-myth of manifestation: the Vast seat of Heaven gives birth to a force (vṛṣabha) that releases nourishment (ūdhan).
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- pada is absent here, but div (heaven, bright sky) continues an Indo-European sky/luminosity lexicon (cf. PIE *dyeu- 'sky, shine' seen in dyáuṣ). The productive imagery of √sū (bring forth/press) aligns with Indo-European ritual-poetic notions of generating plenty through formula and rite.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer witnesses and voices the inner process: when the divine currents are set in motion, the giving powers increase their yield. The r̥ṣi’s utterance functions as a cognitive ‘midwifery’—naming the birth in the seat of Heaven so that the flow becomes available to the human vessel.
Feel the breath as a ‘streaming banner’; let inhalation rise to the ‘heaven-seat’ (space above the head), exhalation pour as nourishment into the body; invoke the ‘bull-force’ as steady strength.
Maṇipūra (vṛṣabha strength) with Sahasrāra/Ājñā descent imagery (maho divaḥ)
Ujjāyī or smooth sūrya-bhedana (right-nostril) for a few minutes to build a directed current; then quiet sitting to receive fullness.
Flowing prāṇa with a descending, strengthening calm.
If restless, first regulate breath; then chant once; afterwards, sense a ‘milk of peace/strength’ filling the chest and belly; act only after this fullness stabilizes.
Triṣṭubh flow: let the first pāda ‘stream’ with slight acceleration; emphasize udatta on vātasya/dhrajataḥ and vṛṣabhaḥ; allow a resonant fall on ūdhan.
Make ‘ā vātasya…’ airy and moving; deepen tone on ‘maho divaḥ sadane’; strong, brief emphasis on ‘vṛṣabhaḥ’; end with a nourishing, rounded tone on ‘ūdhan’.
vātasya: long ā., dhrajataḥ: cluster dhr- clear; avoid ‘draj-’., apīpayanta: keep long ī; articulate pī-pa-yan-ta., vṛṣabhaḥ: retroflex ṣ; light final ḥ., ūdhan: long ū; dental dh, not retroflex.
Airy at start, then increasingly resonant and full.
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