Mantra 15

Sukta 5

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

सा ब्रह्मज्यं देवपीयुं ब्रह्मगव्याऽदीयमाना मृत्योः पद्वीश आ द्यति

IAST Transliteration

sā́ brahmajyáṃ devapīyúṃ brahmagavyā́ ’dīyámānā mṛtyóḥ padvī́ṣa ā́ dyati

English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)

She—Brahman’s bow-string, the gods’ own cherished draught, the Brahman’s cow—when she is being taken away, drives (the taker) forth into the pathways of Death.

Translation

वह—ब्रह्म की धनुष-डोरी (ब्रह्मज्या), देवों का प्रिय पेय, ब्राह्मण की गौ—जब उसे हर लिया जाता है, तो (हरने वाले को) मृत्यु के पथों में धकेल देती है।

Word by Word

• सा: she / that (f.)
• सा: Kartā
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → सा (स्त्री.)

• ब्रह्मज्यम्: the ‘brahma-weapon’ / brahma-bowstring (ritual/holy missile)
• ब्रह्मज्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun/Adjective
• Root: ब्रह्मज्य (प्रातिपदिक; ब्रह्मन् + ज्य) अथवा ब्रह्मज्य- (समास-प्रातिपदिक)

• देवपीयुम्: god-drunk / god-imbibed; divine-imbibing
• देवपीयुम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: देवपीयु (प्रातिपदिक; देव + पीयु)

• ब्रह्मगव्या: the brahma-cow / brahma-milk (holy cow/holy bovine product)
• ब्रह्मगव्या: Kartā
• Type: Noun/Adjective
• Root: ब्रह्मगव्य (प्रातिपदिक; ब्रह्मन् + गव्य) → ब्रह्मगव्या (स्त्री.)

• आदीयमाना: taking up / seizing
• आदीयमाना: Kartā
• Type: Participle
• Root: √दा (आ + √दा ‘to take’) → आदाय/आदीयमान (वर्तमान-कर्तरि/कर्मणि कृदन्त, शानच्)

• मृत्योः: of death / from death (death’s)
• मृत्योः: Apādāna
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृत्यु (प्रातिपदिक)

• पद्वीशः: the lord of the track/footing (guide/leader)
• पद्वीशः: Kartā
• Type: Noun
• Root: पद्वीश (प्रातिपदिक; पद्वी + ईश ‘lord of the path/track’)

• आ: towards, unto; (prefix)
• आ: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: आ (उपसर्ग/निपात)

• द्यति: cuts/cleaves/strikes
• द्यति: Kriyā
• Type: Verb
• Root: √द्या/√द्यै (to cut, to cleave; to strike) — वैदिक प्रयोग

Attribution

Rishi: Traditionally Atharvanic/Angirasa attribution for this legal-protective material (hymn-level attribution varies by anukramaṇī tradition).

Devata: Go (Cow) as sacral power; Mṛtyu as punitive horizon; Brahman as weaponized sacred authority.

Chandas: Anuṣṭubh-like cadence (mixed/irregular in this legal-prose style section).

Mantra Rasa

Primary: raudra

Secondary: bhayankara