Rig Veda 1.116.22: Mandala 1, Sukta 116, Mantra 22
Sukta 1.116
शरस्य चिदार्चत्कस्यावतादा नीचादुच्चा चक्रथुः पातवे वाः । शयवे चिन्नासत्या शचीभिर्जसुरये स्तर्यं पिप्यथुर्गाम् ॥
śarásya cid ārcátkasyā́vatād ā́ nīcā́d uccā́ cakrathuḥ pátave vā́ḥ | śayáve cin nāsatyā śácībhiḥ jásuraye staryáṁ pipyathur gā́m ||
Même pour Śara, ô Nāsatyas, vous avez, du lieu bas, élevé les eaux vers le haut — pour boire. Et pour Śayá, ô Nāsatyas, par vos puissances efficaces, vous avez fait enfler de lait la vache stérile pour Jásura, changeant le manque en nourriture.
Healing/increase motif; apt in rites seeking restoration of flow (waters), nourishment (milk), and reversal of sterility/deficiency
raising of submerged energies, transformation of lack into plenitude, śacī as effective divine skill
Restoring the right movement: what is below is brought into ordered, life-sustaining flow.
Nāsatyā: the true powers that make inner nourishment real, not imagined.
Reversal of deficiency: ascent of waters and fertility of the cow as microcosmic creation.
Integral symbolic psychology (Aurobindo/Kashyap): energies transmuted and made luminous.
Waters = prāṇic/emotional currents; raising waters = sublimation; cow/milk = knowledge and its nourishing delight.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Two classic Aśvin feats: raising waters from below for drinking and making a barren cow yield abundance. Both are restoration myths—returning flow and nourishment where there was deficiency.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √kṛ (do/make) reflects PIE *kwer-/*ker- complex in Indo-Iranian developments; √pyā 'swell' aligns with PIE *peh₂- 'protect/feed' semantic neighborhood though exact cognation is debated; the image-field of *gʷōu- 'cow' is securely PIE (Skt go-, Greek boûs, Latin bōs).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi foregrounds the Aśvins’ śacī—practical divine effectiveness—showing them as powers that concretely convert inner barrenness into nourishment. The hymn thus functions as a manual of confidence: what is 'low' or 'dry' in the seeker can be raised and filled.
Feel a stream rising from the navel to the heart and throat, becoming clear nourishment; invite the Aśvins’ ‘skill’ to heal sterility.
svadhisthana
ujjayi (gentle) for 5 minutes, then chant
From depleted/subconscient to refreshed, flowing awareness.
On ‘nīcād uccā’ visualize energy lifting; on ‘pipyathur gām’ feel the mind’s light-rays becoming abundant and sweet; end with silent assimilation for 1–2 minutes.
Follow pada accents: keep udātta clear on marked syllables; sustain even anudātta to support the ‘rising’ imagery.
Slightly emphasize directional words: nīcāt, uccā; keep ‘śacībhir’ crisp.
śarasya: śa-ra-sya (clear dental s), uccā: double c as ‘tch’ (uc-cā), śacībhir: long ī, gām: nasalized long ā with m closure
Cool, flowing tone; avoid harshness to mirror water imagery.
3
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