Rig Veda 4.49.2: Mandala 4, Sukta 49, Mantra 2
Sukta 4.49
- Rishi
- Vāmadeva Gautama
- Devata
- Indra-Bṛhaspati
- Chandas
- Tr̥ṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Shringara (love)
अयं वां परि षिच्यते सोम इन्द्राबृहस्पती । चारुर्मदाय पीतये ॥
a॒yaṁ vāṁ॒ pári ṣicyate॒ sóma indrābṛhaspatī | cā́rur mádāya pītáye ||
Ce Soma est versé tout autour pour vous deux, ô Indra et Bṛhaspati — charmant, pour l’ivresse (mádāya), pour être bu au-dedans.
Word by Word
- अयम्
- this (one/this Soma)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- वाम्
- of/for you twoPronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी, द्विवचनम् (enclitic)Role SampradānaRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- परि
- around; forth (as preverb)Indeclinable (Preverb/Preposition)अव्ययम्Root परि
- षिच्यते
- is poured/sprinkledVerbलट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्; कर्मणि-प्रयोगः (passive)Root सिच् (सिञ्चति) धातुः
- सोमः
- Soma (the pressed drink)Nounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- इन्द्रा
- O IndraNoun (vocative)पुंलिङ्गः, सम्बोधन, द्विवचनम् (dual vocative, 1st member of dvandva)Role SampradānaRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- बृहस्पती
- O BṛhaspatiNoun (vocative)पुंलिङ्गः, सम्बोधन, द्विवचनम् (dual vocative, 2nd member of dvandva)Role SampradānaRoot बृहस्पति (प्रातिपदिक)
- चारुः
- pleasant, lovelyAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम् (agreeing with सोमः)Role KartāRoot चारु (प्रातिपदिक)
- मदाय
- for exhilaration/intoxicationNounपुंलिङ्गः, चतुर्थी, एकवचनम्Role SampradānaRoot मद (प्रातिपदिक)
- पीतये
- for drinkingNoun (verbal noun)स्त्रीलिङ्गः, चतुर्थी, एकवचनम्Role SampradānaRoot पा (पिबति) धातुः → पीति (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, action noun)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: अयम् | वाम् | परि | षिच्यते | सोमः | इन्द्रा-बृहस्पती | चारुः | मदाय | पीतये । 1) इन्द्राबृहस्पती = इन्द्रा + बृहस्पती (द्वन्द्व-समास; सम्बोधन-द्विवचन). 2) वाम् enclitic dual gen./dat. ‘you two’
- here best taken as dative ‘for you two’ with the offering/pouring. 3) परि is a preverb with √सिच्: परि-षिच्यते ‘is poured around/for (you)’
The meaning
Outer meaning
This Soma is being poured all around for you two, O Indra and Bṛhaspati—delightful for ecstasy, to be drunk.
Inner meaning
Soma (Ananda) is not a single sip but a surrounding inundation: the bliss-consciousness is poured ‘pari’—around and through the being—so that illumination (Indra) and inspired truth-word (Bṛhaspati) may fully take possession. The Soma is ‘cāru’—beautiful, harmonious—because it refines the nature; it is ‘for mada’—for uplifted rapture that expands consciousness beyond limitation. Drinking here is inward assimilation: the being learns to live on Ananda rather than on desire.
Universal truth
True joy is a pervasive atmosphere, not a fleeting pleasure; when consciousness drinks deeply of a higher delight, mind and speech become instruments of truth.
Themes
Soma-ritual, Invocation, Inner intoxication (māda as rapture), Integration of powers
The seer
- Rishi
- Vāmadeva Gautama
- Lineage
- Gautama
- Other hymns
- RV 4.49.1-3, RV 4.26 (Soma/Indra themes; Vāmadeva)
Family tradition
Vāmadeva’s Soma-language frequently indicates an inner extraction and diffusion of bliss that supports illumination and inspired speech.
Significance
The seer emphasizes ‘pari’—total permeation—suggesting not episodic inspiration but a stable atmosphere of Ananda supporting mind and mantra.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra-Bṛhaspati (dual)
- Epithets
- Soma-drinkers (contextual), Lords of illumination and inspired word
- Related deities
- Soma, Agni, Sarasvatī
Cosmic role
They receive Soma and in return release light, widen the world, and establish right order through force (Indra) and word (Bṛhaspati).
Inner power
Capacity to assimilate Ananda and convert it into clarity (Indra) and true expression (Bṛhaspati).
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma libation for Indra-Bṛhaspati
अ॒यं वां॒ परि॑ षिच्यते॒ सोम॑ इन्द्राबृहस्पती । चारु॒र्मदा॑य पी॒तये॑ ॥
अ॒यम् । वा॒म् । परि॑ । सि॒च्य॒ते॒ । सोमः॑ । इ॒न्द्रा॒बृ॒ह॒स्प॒ती॒ इति॑ । चारुः॒ । मदा॑य । पी॒तये॑ ॥
ayam | vām | pari | sicyate | somaḥ | indrābṛhaspatī iti | cāruḥ | madāya | pītaye
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4 pādas of ~11 syllables; fluid middle phrase mirrors ‘pouring around’
Flowing yet firm; a ‘circling’ cadence suggested by pari- phrasing.
Creates a sense of being bathed; supports receptive concentration and gentle uplift.
- परि सिच्यते (pari ṣicyate)
- Literal: is poured around. Symbolic: Ananda permeates the whole being, creating a field of bliss
- सोमः (somaḥ)
- Literal: Soma. Symbolic: divine delight, immortal nectar of consciousness
- चारुः (cāruḥ)
- Literal: beautiful, pleasing. Symbolic: harmonizing delight that purifies and makes the nature fit
- मदा॑य (madāya)
- Literal: for ecstasy. Symbolic: uplifted rapture that widens and intensifies awareness
- पी॒तये (pītaye)
- Literal: for drinking. Symbolic: inward reception and assimilation of higher consciousness
Soma offering context (Soma-yajña, especially invitatory/pressing sequences): calling the powers to partake of the pressed Soma; applicable across Agniṣṭoma-class Soma rites
During Soma pouring/libation sequences; accompaniment to the act of pouring/straining
Libation (savana) and offering; recitation as Soma is poured and presented
Use as a mantra for ‘soaking’ the mind in quiet joy: after breath regulation, imagine a cool luminous delight pervading the body-mind.
Key terms: √sic ‘to pour/sprinkle’ (sicyate, passive 3sg): suggests distribution of soma through the ‘channels’ of the being. Soma from √su ‘press/extract’ (with semantic field of distilled essence); psychologically: pressed-out delight/essence. mada from √mad ‘to be glad/exult, become rapt’; indicates heightened force of consciousness. pā/√pā ‘to drink’ (pītaye, dat. inf./purpose): assimilation, not mere offering. Dual vocative indrābṛhaspatī: coordinated powers—Indra as luminous victorious energy; Bṛhaspati as brahmanaspati-like power of the true word/formation (bṛh ‘to grow, expand’ + pati ‘lord’).
Ānanda (Soma as delight), R̥ta as right arrangement (pari—pervasive ordering of the offering within the being), Integration of force (Indra) and truth-word (Bṛhaspati)
Pari-sicyate suggests ṛta as an all-around law/field, not a narrow rule—order that permeates.
Cāru Soma implies truth-delight: joy that is intrinsically harmonizing and revealing.
Delight as a creative medium: the world of consciousness widens when bliss is received.
Ananda-centric Vedāntic trajectory (anticipating Taittirīya’s ānanda gradations; thematic).
Flowing Soma = descending/pervading bliss; pouring around = saturation of the nervous system and mind-field with Ananda.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The Soma-libation as the ‘nectar’ offered to the divine powers: a recurrent mythic action where the gods are strengthened by Soma to accomplish victory and right-order. Innerly, the mythologem is the circulation of delight through the being so that Force (Indra) and Truth-Word (Bṛhaspati) can act together.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √sic ‘pour’ continues PIE *seik- ‘to pour’ (cf. Lat. siccus is different; but the Indo-European ‘pour’ root family is well-attested; Sanskrit √sic is central in Vedic libation diction). √mad ‘be glad/exult’ reflects a widespread Indo-Iranian ecstatic lexicon (Avestan cognates in the semantic field of exhilaration). √pā ‘drink’ is PIE *peh₃- ‘to drink’ (cf. Greek pínō, Latin pōtō via related formations). The dual vocative indrābṛhaspatī encodes the archaic Indo-European poetic habit of paired divine functions (force + word/ordering).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- Reciprocity is enacted: the seer prepares and ‘pours’ Soma (aspiration and distilled delight) and invites the twin powers to drink; in return, these powers increase the rapture (mada) and establish effective action through illumination (Indra) and right formulation (Bṛhaspati). The offering is thus a technology of inner exchange, not mere external oblation.
Let bliss pervade: visualize Soma as a cool luminous nectar being poured around the mind-heart space.
Sahasrāra (descent of peace) with support in Anāhata (sweetness)
Slow inhalation imagining ‘drawing Soma’; slow exhalation imagining ‘pari—spreading around’.
Receptive, pervaded, quietly ecstatic.
After a few minutes of steady breathing, repeat the mantra softly. Between repetitions, pause and feel the ‘aroundness’—a field of sweetness surrounding thoughts. Offer that field to clarity (Indra) and true expression (Bṛhaspati).
Let the sound ‘flow’ through pari ṣicyate; keep accents crisp but avoid choppy delivery; emphasize long vowels in cāruḥ and pītaye.
Sustain the phrase cārur madāya pītaye with an even arc, mirroring the pouring.
(sicyate): ‘cy’ cluster clean; short i, (cāruḥ): long ā; visarga light at end, (somaḥ): o long-ish; visarga gentle
Soft, liquid, and resonant; minimal force, maximum clarity.
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