Rig Veda 2.41.16: Mandala 2, Sukta 41, Mantra 16
Sukta 2.41
- Rishi
- Gṛtsamada
- Devata
- Sarasvatī
- Chandas
- Tr̥ṣṭubh/Jagatī interface
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion) and Shanta (peace)
अम्बितमे नदीतमे देवितमे सरस्वति । अप्रशस्ता इव स्मसि प्रशस्तिमम्ब नस्कृधि ॥
ámbi-tame nadī́-tame dévi-tame sárasvati | apraśastā́ iva smasi práśastim amba nas kṛdhi ||
હે અતિમાતા, અતિનદી, અતિદેવી—સરસ્વતી! અમે જાણે અપ્રશંસિત છીએ; હે માતા, અમને સાચી પ્રશસ્તિ, યોગ્ય માન્યતા પ્રદાન કર.
Word by Word
- अम्बितमे
- O most motherly oneNoun (vocative, with superlative suffix)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-एकवचन (सुपरलेटिव: ‘most motherly’)Role सम्बोधनRoot अम्बा (प्रातिपदिक) + -तम (तमप्-प्रत्यय)
- नदीतमे
- O best of riversNoun/Adjective (vocative, superlative)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-एकवचन (सुपरलेटिव: ‘most river-like / best of rivers’)Role सम्बोधनRoot नदी (प्रातिपदिक) + -तम (तमप्-प्रत्यय)
- देवितमे
- O most divine (goddess)Noun/Adjective (vocative, superlative)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-एकवचन (सुपरलेटिव: ‘most divine goddess’)Role सम्बोधनRoot देवी (प्रातिपदिक) + -तम (तमप्-प्रत्यय)
- सरस्वति
- O SarasvatīNoun (proper name)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot सरस्वती (प्रातिपदिक)
- अप्रशस्ताः
- unpraised, not celebratedAdjective (past passive participle used adjectivally)पुंलिङ्ग (अस्मद्-सम्बन्धे), प्रथमा-बहुवचनRole कर्तृ-विशेषण (अस्मद्-समूहस्य)Root अ-प्र-शंस् (धातु √शंस् ‘to praise’) → प्रशस्त (कृदन्त, PPP) with privative अ-
- इव
- as if, likeIndeclinableअव्ययRole उपमान/निपात (comparison marker)Root इव
- स्मसि
- we areVerbलट् (वर्तमान), उत्तमपुरुष, बहुवचनRole सम्बन्ध/अस्तित्व-क्रिया (अस्मद् कर्ता)Root अस् (धातु √अस् ‘to be’)
- प्रशस्तिम्
- praise, renownNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-एकवचनRole कर्म (कृधि-क्रियायाः)Root प्र-शंस् (धातु √शंस्) → प्रशस्ति (स्त्री. भाववाचक संज्ञा)
- अम्ब
- O motherNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot अम्बा (प्रातिपदिक)
- नः
- for us / ourPronounषष्ठी-बहुवचन (enclitic)Role सम्प्रदान/अधिकार (beneficiary/for us; genitive of concern)Root अस्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- कृधि
- make, grantVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचनRole क्रिया (आज्ञा; कर्ता = त्वम्/सरस्वती)Root कृ (धातु √कृ ‘to make, do’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (sandhi-resolved): अम्बितमे | नदीतमे | देवितमे | सरस्वति | अप्रशस्ताः | इव | स्मसि | प्रशस्तिम् | अम्ब | नः | कृधि || 1) ‘सरस्वति । अप्रशस्ताः’—विसर्ग/दण्ड-सीमा पर संधि नहीं। 2) ‘नस्कृधि’ (संहितापाठ) = ‘नः कृधि’ (पदपाठ): अः + क् → (उच्चारण-परम्परा में) ‘स्क्’ समूह
- लिखित रूप ‘नस्कृधि’। 3) ‘प्रशस्तिमम्ब’ = ‘प्रशस्तिम् अम्ब’ (म् + अ → म् अ; संहितायां निकट-संयोग)
The meaning
Outer meaning
A praise to Sarasvatī as the best mother, best river, best goddess; the speaker says they are as if unpraised and asks her to make for them true praise/renown.
Inner meaning
Sarasvatī is the flowing inspiration and truth-stream in consciousness—word, intuition, and luminous discrimination. ‘Mother’ is the nurturing source of right speech and inner formation; ‘River’ is the continuous current of inspiration; ‘Goddess’ is the divine power of revelation. Feeling ‘unpraised’ indicates the soul’s sense that its true expression and right recognition have not yet manifested. The rishi asks Sarasvatī to create in us praśasti: the right utterance, right self-expression, and the inner affirmation that aligns the being with truth and wideness.
Universal truth
Authentic expression and inner dignity arise from a deeper source than ego; when inspiration and truth-flow awaken, life finds its right voice and right place.
Themes
Sarasvatī praise, Speech and inspiration, Mother-goddess, Right recognition
The seer
- Rishi
- Gṛtsamada (Bhārgava)
- Lineage
- Bhṛgu (Bhārgava)
- Other hymns
- RV 2.41 (Sarasvatī section), RV 6.61 (Sarasvatī hymn, thematic)
Family tradition
Bhārgava tradition values Sarasvatī as the inspirer of mantra and right articulation of the inner sacrifice; praise is a force of formation, not flattery.
Significance
The seer turns from victory and gathering of powers to the source of inspired speech itself—asking for the right word that establishes the soul in wideness and truth.
The deity
- Devata
- Sarasvatī
- Epithets
- ambitame, nadītame, devitame
- Related deities
- Vāk, Bṛhaspati, Agni (as priestly flame), Viśve Devāḥ
Cosmic role
River-goddess of inspiration and order; patron of sacred speech and the flow that nourishes the worlds.
Inner power
Revelatory speech (vāk) and discriminating inspiration; purifying current that carries the mind toward truth and wideness.
In ritual
Where it is used
Sarasvatī invocation in rites seeking inspired speech, successful recitation, and right formation of the sacrifice.
अम्बि॑तमे॒ नदी॑तमे॒ देवि॑तमे॒ सर॑स्वति । अ॒प्र॒श॒स्ता इ॑व स्मसि॒ प्रश॑स्तिमम्ब नस्कृधि ॥
अम्बि॑ऽतमे । नदी॑ऽतमे । देवि॑ऽतमे । सर॑स्वति । अ॒प्र॒श॒स्ताःऽइ॑व । स्म॒सि॒ । प्रऽश॑स्तिम् । अ॒म्ब॒ । नः॒ । कृ॒धि॒ ॥
ambi-tame | nadī-tame | devi-tame | sarasvati | apraśastāḥ-iva | smasi | pra-śastim | amba | naḥ | kṛdhi
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Mixed cadence; first pāda often feels jagatī-like (12) with triṣṭubh turns (11) in others depending on resolution.
Supplicatory and flowing, mirroring a river; elongated vocatives create a wave-like opening.
Soothes and opens the throat-mind channel; encourages a sense of inner flow and truthful articulation.
- ambitame
- Literal: most motherly/best mother. Symbolic: Nurturing power that forms and protects the growing soul-consciousness
- nadītame
- Literal: best river. Symbolic: Unbroken flow of inspiration, intuition, and purifying movement
- devitame
- Literal: most divine goddess. Symbolic: Highest form of the power—revelation, discrimination, luminous speech
- sarasvatī
- Literal: she who possesses ‘saras’ (flow, lake, speech-current). Symbolic: Truth-inspiration, the river of consciousness and mantra-speech
- apraśastāḥ iva
- Literal: as if unpraised/without acclaim. Symbolic: Sense of inner inadequacy; the being not yet aligned with its true note and recognition
- praśastim
- Literal: praise, renown, right commendation. Symbolic: Right affirmation and true expression; the mantra-voice that establishes truth in life
- kṛdhi
- Literal: make, do. Symbolic: Active formation—Sarasvatī as shaper of inner speech and self-realization
Sarasvatī invoked for inspired speech and effective hymn (brahman) in Soma and other Śrauta contexts; also as purifier and establisher of right expression.
Before/within recitation-heavy segments; also at beginnings of study or poetic/ritual composition.
Recitation as a request for mantra-śakti (power of right utterance) and purification of speech.
Before studying, teaching, writing, singing, or difficult conversations—invoke clarity, kindness, and truth-flow in speech.
(ambā) ‘mother’ (nurser, protectress) with superlative -tama. (nadī) from √nad ‘to roar, resound, flow’ → river as resonant flow (speech/inspiration). Sarasvatī from saras ‘lake, fluid, essence’ + -vatī ‘possessing’ → she who possesses plenitude of flowing inspiration; in inner sense: the streaming of illumined speech. pra-śasti from √śaṃs ‘to praise, proclaim’ with pra- ‘forth’ → right utterance/recognition; kṛdhi from √kṛ ‘to do/make’.
Vāc (inspired speech), R̥ta (right utterance as truth-order), Brahman (the formative word-power)
Right speech and right inspiration are instruments of ṛta; Sarasvatī aligns expression with cosmic order.
Praśasti becomes ‘true praise’ when speech reflects inner truth rather than social approval.
Creation through word/flow: the world is sustained by currents of consciousness and articulation.
Strongly resonates with Upaniṣadic Vāk and later Śakti traditions; bridges to Vedāntic emphasis on truth-speech (satyam vada).
River is the streaming intuition; water is purification of mind and speech; the ‘best river’ is the most luminous, unobstructed current of inspiration.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Sarasvatī as the divine River-Mother who grants the power of praise (praśasti). The mythic action is not combat but bestowal: she makes the hymn effective—she ‘creates’ the right acclaim/utterance that establishes the sacrificer in luminous standing.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √kṛ ‘make/do’ is a central IE root (PIE *kwer-/*ker- type ‘make’ in various reflexes; Sanskrit preserves it robustly). √śaṃs ‘praise/proclaim’ corresponds to archaic Indo-European poetics of ‘fame/praise’ as performative speech-act, comparable to Greek kleos-making traditions though via different roots.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The r̥ṣi confesses inadequacy (‘as though unpraised’) and asks Sarasvatī to supply what humans cannot fully generate: the right-form of praise that aligns with r̥ta. The devatā is the inner faculty of inspired speech that completes the human offering.
Open the inner river: feel a cool, luminous stream rising from heart to throat to brow; rest in truthful expression.
viśuddha (speech purification) with support from ājñā (revelation)
Slow exhale humming (m̐) after each recitation to vibrate the throat and steady the mind.
Quiet inspiration—lucid, tender, truthful.
If you feel ‘unpraised’ (unseen/blocked), do not seek outer validation; ask Sarasvatī for praśasti: the right inner affirmation and the right words. After chanting, sit silently and let one truthful sentence arise from within; write it down as an offering.
Tri-svara; extended vocative chain (ambitame… nadītame… devitame) should be chanted with clear rises on the accented syllables per recension.
Give each superlative vocative its own respectful ‘call’; slightly pause between them; let the request ‘praśastim… kṛdhi’ be intimate and earnest.
ambitame: pronounce ‘mb’ smoothly; short i, nadītame: long ī; dental t, devitame: light v; short i, sarasvati: ‘sv’ cluster; final i short, apraśastāḥ: retroflex ṣ; long āḥ, praśastim: pr-a-ṣa-stim with retroflex ṣ
Gentle, flowing, devotional; keep clarity in consonant clusters.
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