Sukta 48
Sukta 5.48
Unclear in isolation; verse imagery suggests a cosmic formative power spreading waters in the cloud (often linked in RV diction to Parjanya/Indra’s rain-action or to a goddess-like māyā-power).
Is mantra mein ek aisi shakti ke baare mein socha gaya hai jo badalon mein paani ikhatta karti hai aur dharti ko failati hai. Yehi taakat din aur raat ko sambhalti hai aur bijli jaisi taaqat rakhti hai. Aage Varuna ka naam aata hai jo chaaron taraf se dekhne wala aur sundar vastra pehenne wala hai. Inki visheshta ko koi nap nahi sakta. Bhaga aur Savitri jaise devta iske dwara aapko dhan dete hain. Yeh mantra un shaktiyon ko bulata hai jo aapke liye accha laaye.
Mantras
Mantra 1
कदु प्रियाय धाम्ने मनामहे स्वक्षत्राय स्वयशसे महे वयम् । आमेन्यस्य रजसो यदभ्र आँ अपो वृणाना वितनोति मायिनी ॥
Kab hum bade bhagwan ke paas soch lekar jayenge? Unki apni taqat hai, apni chamak hai. Woh bada bunne wala hai. Baadal mein paani lekar woh poora area faila deta hai apni shakti se.
Mantra 2
ता अत्नत वयुनं वीरवक्षणं समान्या वृतया विश्वमा रजः । अपो अपाचीरपरा अपेजते प्र पूर्वाभिस्तिरते देवयुर्जनः ॥
Woh log woh gyaan faila rahe hain jo himmat wala hai. Ek hi niyam se woh poori duniya ko faila dete hain. Paani aage bhi jaata hai, peeche bhi, dono taraf hilta hai. Bhagwan ko dhundne wale log purani had se aage badh jaate hain.
Mantra 3
आ ग्रावभिरहन्येभिरक्तुभिर्वरिष्ठं वज्रमा जिघर्ति मायिनि । शतं वा यस्य प्रचरन्त्स्वे दमे संवर्तयन्तो वि च वर्तयन्नहा ॥
Din aur raat, patharon se woh vajra utha rahe hain, bahut taakat wala. Jiske ghar mein shaktiyaan chalti hain, woh din ko milaate hain aur phir alag karte hain.
Mantra 4
तामस्य रीतिं परशोरिव प्रत्यनीकमख्यं भुजे अस्य वर्पसः । सचा यदि पितुमन्तमिव क्षयं रत्नं दधाति भरहूतये विशे ॥
Main uska kaam dekh raha hoon, jaise koi kulhaadi maarta hai. Uska roshni jaisa chehra hai. Jab woh kisi ghar mein khazana rakhta hai jahan khana hai, tab woh us khaandan ko madad deta hai jo usko pukarta hai.
Mantra 5
स जिह्वया चतुरनीक ऋञ्जते चारु वसानो वरुणो यतन्नरिम् । न तस्य विद्म पुरुषत्वता वयं यतो भगः सविता दाति वार्यम् ॥
Woh apni jeeb se chaaron taraf kaam karta hai. Yeh Varuna hai, ache kapde pehne hue, dushman se lad raha hai. Hum uski poori taakat nahi jaante. Bhagwan Savita usse dhan deta hai jo sab ko chahiye.
Inside Sukta 48
How it unfolds
- Where it opens
A questioning wonder: when will the mind turn fully toward the dear seat of the Great, endowed with innate sovereignty and glory?
- Development
The hymn unfolds the image of a formative power gathering waters in the cloud and spreading the realm, then intensifies with vajra and pressing-stones imagery and the regulation of day/night cycles.
- Climax
Recognition of the supreme, beautifully robed Varuṇa—four-faced and active in speech—striving against the hostile divider, whose magnitude cannot be measured.
- Where it settles
A concluding theological linkage: from that source, Bhaga and Savitṛ distribute and impel desirable riches, reaffirming order and beneficence.
The deity: Varuṇa
- In the VedaVaruṇa is portrayed as a majestic upholder of ṛta, beautifully robed, opposing the hostile divider, and too vast in “manhood” to be fully measured. Alongside him appear the motifs of cloud-waters, spreading of space, and the vajra-bearing shaper—imagery commonly shared across rain-sovereignty diction in the Rig Veda.
- Cosmic functionTo sustain cosmic order, bind and regulate the world’s courses (including the alternation and joining/separating of days), and ensure the right distribution of gifts through allied functions represented by Bhaga (apportioner) and Savitṛ (impeller).
- Inner significanceThe hymn can be read as a movement from wonder at the mind’s inability to grasp the ‘seat’ of the Great, toward recognition of an ordering intelligence that shapes inner ‘waters’ (energies, inspirations) and disciplines time, speech, and ethical coherence.
Famous verses
कदु प्रियाय धाम्ने मनामहे स्वक्षत्राय स्वयशसे महे वयम् । आमेन्यस्य रजसो यदभ्र आँ अपो वृणाना वितनोति मायिनी ॥आ ग्रावभिरहन्येभिरक्तुभिर्वरिष्ठं वज्रमा जिघर्ति मायिनि । शतं वा यस्य प्रचरन्त्स्वे दमे संवर्तयन्तो वि च वर्तयन्नहा ॥स जिह्वया चतुरनीक ऋञ्जते चारु वसानो वरुणो यतन्नरिम् । न तस्य विद्म पुरुषत्वता वयं यतो भगः सविता दाति वार्यम् ॥Attributes of the deity
- Upholder of ṛta (cosmic-moral order)
- Sovereign power (svakṣatra) and inherent splendor (svayaśas)
- Cloud-and-waters symbolism (rain-formative potency)
- Time-ordering (day/night courses)
- Vast, immeasurable greatness
- Source-context for Bhaga and Savitṛ’s bestowal of wealth
Also by this seer
- If Atris: numerous hymns in Rig Veda Mandala 5 (general Atri corpus), though this specific sukta’s seer-name is not established from the supplied excerpt
The rite, step by step
- Āvāhana: Invite the sovereign upholder of order and the formative rain-power to attend the rite.
- Stuti: Praise the deity’s self-sustaining sovereignty and splendor; recall the spreading of waters in the cloud.
- Soma/pressing association: Link the hymn’s ‘pressing-stones’ imagery to the ritual act of pressing and energizing the offering.
- Prārthanā: Ask for the right ordering of time, protection from divisive hostility, and bestowal of vārya (desirable wealth).
- Śānti/niyama: Conclude with acknowledgment of the deity’s immeasurable greatness and submit to ṛta.
Offerings
- Soma (where applicable to the rite)
- Ghee (ājya) into the fire
- Water libation (ācamana/āpo-related offering) as a symbolic complement to the cloud-waters theme
Frequently Asked Questions
The hymn’s final verse explicitly names Varuṇa, so Varuṇa is the clearest devatā. Earlier verses use ‘māyinī/māyin’ and rain-thunder imagery that can overlap with Indra/Parjanya language, but the culmination points to Varuṇa’s sovereignty and order.
In this context māyinī is a ‘shaper’ or ‘formative power’—the capacity that skillfully arranges and manifests, pictured as gathering the waters in the cloud and spreading out the wide realm.
Bhaga represents the apportioning of shares and good fortune, and Savitṛ represents the impelling power that sets things in motion. The verse presents their gift-giving as operating from, or grounded in, Varuṇa’s larger sovereignty and order.
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