Rig Veda 1.142.8: Mandala 1, Sukta 142, Mantra 8
Sukta 1.142
- Rishi
- Dīrghatamas Āucathya
- Devata
- Divine Hotṛs, allied to inspired speech
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Adbhuta (wonder)
मन्द्रजिह्वा जुगुर्वणी होतारा दैव्या कवी । यज्ञं नो यक्षतामिमं सिध्रमद्य दिविस्पृशम् ॥
mandrá-jihvā jugurváṇī hotā́rā daivyā́ kavī́ | yajñáṃ no yakṣatām imáṃ sídhram adyá divi-spṛ́śam ||
दो दिव्य शक्तियाँ हैं जो हमारे लिए यज्ञ करें। इनकी जीभ से अच्छे शब्द निकलते हैं, जो मन को खुश करते हैं। यह आज ही काम करें, आसमान तक पहुँचे। हमारा काम ऊपर उठके भगवान तक पहुँचे और उसका जवाब मिले।
Word by Word
- मन्द्रजिह्वा
- having pleasant tonguesAdjective (compound)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, द्विवचन (होतारौ इति विशेषणम्)Role Kartā (होतारौ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Root मन्द्र- (प्रातिपदिक) + जिह्वा- (प्रातिपदिक)
- जुगुर्वणी
- praising/singingAdjective/Participle-like (archaic Vedic form)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, द्विवचन (होतारौ इति विशेषणम्)Role Kartā (होतारौ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Root √गॄ/गृ (स्तुति/गान) → जुगुर्वन्- (परिपूर्ण/परिणत-प्रातिपदिक; ‘स्तुवन्त्/गायन्त्’)
- होतारा
- the two Hotṛ-priests (invoking priests)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, द्विवचनRole KartāRoot होतृ- (प्रातिपदिक; from √हु ‘to sacrifice/offer’)
- दैव्या
- divineAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, द्विवचन (होतारौ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Role Kartā (होतारौ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Root दैव्य- (प्रातिपदिक; देव- से)
- कवी
- sages/poetsNoun (used adjectivally)पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, द्विवचन (होतारौ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Role Kartā (होतारौ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Root कवि- (प्रातिपदिक)
- यज्ञम्
- the sacrificeNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot यज्ञ- (प्रातिपदिक; from √यज् ‘to worship/sacrifice’)
- नः
- for us / ourPronounषष्ठी, बहुवचन (enclitic)Role Sampradāna (हितार्थे: ‘for us/our’)Root अस्मद्- (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- यक्षताम्
- Root √यज् (देवपूजा/याग) — Vedic injunctive/imperative-type formation ‘यक्ष-’
The meaning
Outer meaning
An invocation to the two divine Hotṛ priests—seer-poets with gladdening tongues and strong hymn—asking them to perform the sacrifice for us: this offering effective today, reaching/touching heaven.
Inner meaning
The ‘dual Hotṛs’ are inner priest-powers: inspired speech (vāc) and discerning intelligence that can correctly ‘offer’ human energies upward. Their “gladdening tongues” indicate a luminous, delight-born vibration of mantra; “strong hymning” is sustained aspiration. The yajña that ‘touches heaven’ is the inner work that rises into higher mind (divi) and opens a response (descent) from above.
Universal truth
True progress depends on right mediation: when aspiration is guided by inspired speech and clear discernment, the work becomes effective ‘today’—in the living present—and can connect the human to the higher consciousness.
Themes
divine priests, effective sacrifice, heaven-touching offering, mantric power
The seer
- Rishi
- Dīrghatamas Āucathya
- Lineage
- Aucathya (Angirasa-related current)
- Other hymns
- RV 1.140, RV 1.141, RV 1.142, RV 1.143, RV 1.158
Family tradition
A seer of encoded inner ritual: the external priestly functions mirror inner psychological operations.
Significance
He articulates the inner yajña where speech and thought become priest-powers enabling ascent and descent.
The deity
- Devata
- Divine Hotṛs (dual priestly powers)
- Epithets
- mandrajihvā, jugurvaṇī, daivyā, kavī
- Related deities
- Agni (as Hotṛ), Bṛhaspati (lord of inspired word), Sarasvatī (flow of speech/knowledge)
Cosmic role
Mediators between human and divine—invokers who establish the link of offering and response across worlds.
Inner power
Mantric speech-force and illumined intelligence that can shape aspiration into an effective act and open higher contact.
In ritual
Where it is used
Hotṛ-invocation in Soma and Agni rites; calling the officiating powers to ‘yaj’ (sacrifice) the offering.
म॒न्द्रजि॑ह्वा जुगु॒र्वणी॒ होता॑रा॒ दैव्या॑ क॒वी । य॒ज्ञं नो॑ यक्षतामि॒मं सि॒ध्रम॒द्य दि॑वि॒स्पृश॑म् ॥
म॒न्द्रऽजि॑ह्वा । जु॒गु॒र्वणी॒ इति॑ । होता॑रा । दैव्या॑ । क॒वी । य॒ज्ञम् । नः॒ । य॒क्ष॒ता॒म् । इ॒मम् । सि॒ध्रम् । अ॒द्य । दि॒वि॒ऽस्पृश॑म् ॥
mandra-jihvā | jugurvaṇī iti | hotārā | daivyā | kavī | yajñam | naḥ | yakṣatām | imam | sidhram | adya | divi-spṛśam
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4 × ~11 syllables
Invocatory and energetic; supports upward movement and effective action.
Builds a sense of ascent (‘touching heaven’) and strengthens resolve; good for beginning concentrated practice.
- होतारा (hotārā)
- Literal: two Hotṛ priests. Symbolic: Dual inner agencies that invoke and offer: inspired utterance + illumined discrimination
- दैव्या कवी (daivyā kavī)
- Literal: divine seer-poets. Symbolic: Supramental/overmental inspiration shaping mantra-thought
- मन्द्रजिह्वा (mandra-jihvā)
- Literal: with gladdening/pleasant tongues. Symbolic: Mantric vibration born of delight; speech that carries force
- जुगुर्वणी (jugurvaṇī)
- Literal: strong in chanting/praise. Symbolic: Persistent aspiration; concentrated will in the mantra
- सिध्रम् (sidhram)
- Literal: effective, successful. Symbolic: Inner action that accomplishes—alignment of means with truth
- दिविस्पृशम् (divispṛśam)
- Literal: touching heaven. Symbolic: Reaching higher mind; contact with luminous planes
Hotṛ-function: correct offering and recitation; ensures the rite is ‘sidhram’ (accomplished) and reaches the heavenly plane
At the start of an offering sequence when priestly functions are being established.
Commissioning the Hotṛs to perform; empowering the yajña to be ‘sidhram’ (successful).
Recite before study/teaching/chanting to align speech and mind; use before important work to make action effective and ‘heaven-touching’ (value-aligned).
hotṛ from √hu ‘to call, invoke’ (priest as caller). kavi from √kū/√kav ‘to see, be wise/poetic’ (seer-poet). spṛś from √spṛś ‘touch’ (PIE *spreg- ‘touch’ proposed in some comparisons). mandra ‘gladdening’ tied to √mand ‘to rejoice, be glad’.
mantra as effective action (speech that does), ascent of offering and descent of power, kavi-consciousness (inspired seeing)
The successful yajña implies correct alignment with ṛta; the Hotṛ function is to maintain that alignment through right invocation.
Speech becomes a vehicle of truth when it is ‘divine’ (daivya) and seer-guided (kavi).
Ascent of offering and descent of divine response—reciprocity that sustains worlds.
Mantra-śakti realism (Aurobindo/Kashyap): word as force; inner sacrifice as evolutionary method.
Rising current of aspiration and mantra-vibration contacting higher mind; ‘today’ as present-moment efficacy.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The divine officiants perform the sacrifice so it reaches heaven: the mythic idea that the rite has celestial agents ensuring its success. Innerly, higher faculties of inspired speech and vision (kavī, mandra-jihvā) take over the work, making it ‘sidhram’—sure in accomplishment.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- The priestly title hotṛ (caller) reflects a deep Indo-European ritual-poetic function where invocation is central. The emphasis on ‘touching heaven’ (divi-spṛś) continues the inherited vertical cosmology (earth–midspace–heaven) expressed through spatial verbs and compounds.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi entrusts the rite to divine counterparts of the human Hotṛs—innerly, to supramentalized speech and vision. The devatā reciprocate by making the sacrifice effective and heaven-reaching, enabling communion and return-flow of force.
Consecrate speech and thought as inner priests; offer the day’s energies upward in mantra-breath.
Viśuddha (speech/mantra) and Ājñā (seer-intelligence).
Ujjāyī-light or simple counted breathing; on exhale silently ‘offer’ (yaj) a chosen intention upward; on inhale receive quiet light.
Upward-striving, luminous, attentive; a sense of ‘channel’ to higher mind.
Begin practice by making speech truthful and quiet. Recite the mantra once slowly, then again with firmer will. Feel two inner Hotṛs: (1) inspired word, (2) discerning mind—working together to make the offering effective.
Tri-svara with clear udātta on key invocatory nouns (hotārā, daivyā, kavī) and on divispṛśam; maintain triṣṭubh cadence.
Keep compound accents crisp; do not flatten ‘mandrajihvā’; let the rhythm emphasize ‘yajñaṃ no yakṣatām’.
‘mandra’ = man-dra (clear dr), ‘jihvā’ with aspirated hvā (not jivā), ‘yakṣatām’ with kṣ conjunct, ‘divispṛśam’ = di-vi-spṛ-śam (ṛ is vocalic)
Bright, confident, forward-placing (speech-centered).
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