Rig Veda 1.25.3: Mandala 1, Sukta 25, Mantra 3
Sukta 1.25
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha Maitrāvaruṇi
- Devata
- Varuṇa
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Vira (heroism)
वि मृळीकाय ते मनो रथीरश्वं न संदितम् । गीर्भिर्वरुण सीमहि ॥
ví mṛ́ḷīkāya te máno rathī́r áśvaṃ ná sáṃditam | gīrbhír varuṇa sīmahi ||
वरुण भगवान, तुम्हारी मेहरबानी के लिए हम अपना मन कंट्रोल करते हैं। जैसे सारथी घोड़े को ठीक से जोता है, वैसे हम अपने मन को सीधा रखते हैं। हमारी प्रार्थना से यह मन तुम्हारे सही रास्ते पर चले।
Word by Word
- वि
- apart, forth, asunder (intensifier/dispersion)Indeclinableअव्यय (उपसर्ग) — क्रियाविशेषणार्थेRoot वि- (उपसर्ग) / अव्यय
- मृळी॒काय॑
- for mercy; for graciousnessNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; चतुर्थी-एकवचन (दत्तिव) — ‘मृळीकाय’Role SampradānaRoot मृळीक (प्रातिपदिक) < √मृड्/मृळ् ‘to be gracious, to show mercy’
- ते
- of you; yourPronounषष्ठी-एकवचन (सम्बन्ध) — ‘ते’Root त्वद्/युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- मनः
- mind; intentionNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-एकवचनRole KartāRoot मनस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- रथीः
- a charioteer; one who drives a chariotNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-एकवचन (वैदिक रूप: रथीः = रथी)Role Kartā (उपमान-रूपेण) / विशेषणRoot रथी (प्रातिपदिक) < रथ ‘chariot’
- अश्वम्
- a horseNounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचनRole KarmaRoot अश्व (प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- like; asIndeclinableउपमान-निपातRoot न (अव्यय)
- सन्दितम्
- well-yoked / well-set / properly arrangedParticiple (verbal adjective)नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचन (अश्वम् इति कर्मणः विशेषणम्)Role Karma (विशेषणरूपेण)Root सम्-√दा (ददाति) / √धा?; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (वैदिक प्रयोग) — ‘सन्दित’ = ‘सम्यक् दत्त/निहित/संहित’
- गीर्भिः
- with hymns; by praisesNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; तृतीया-बहुवचनRole KaraṇaRoot गीर्/गिर् (प्रातिपदिक) ‘song, hymn, praise’
- वरुण
- O VaruṇaNoun (proper)पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन-एकवचनRole (सम्बोधन)Root वरुण (प्रातिपदिक)
- सीमहि
- we bind/attach (to ourselves); we seek to win/propitiateVerbलट् (वर्तमान); आत्मनेपद; उत्तम-पुरुष; बहुवचनRole (क्रिया)Root √सी (सीमति/सीमयति; वैदिक) ‘to bind, to fasten; to attach/bring near; to propitiate (by binding with praise)’
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: वि | मृळीकाय | ते | मनः | रथीः | अश्वम् | न | सन्दितम् | गीर्भिः | वरुण | सीमहि । 1) गीर्भिर्वरुण = गीर्भिः + वरुण (विसर्ग-सन्धि: ः + व → र्). 2) रथीरश्वम् = रथीः + अश्वम् (विसर्ग-लोप/रुत्व: ः + अ → र). 3) न संदि॑तम्: ‘सन्दितम्’ क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त
- मन्त्रपाठे ‘सन्दितम्’ इति एकपदम् (सम्-उपसर्गयुक्त)
The meaning
Outer meaning
The poet addresses Varuṇa for graciousness: “We yoke our mind for your mercy, as a charioteer yokes a well-harnessed horse, and by hymns we seek to move in your right order (ṛta).”
Inner meaning
Under Varuṇa (the power of vast Truth and right law), the seeker disciplines the mind (manas) as an instrument of inner journey. The mind is not left to wander; it is yoked like a horse—vital force brought under conscious guidance (rathīḥ). Inspired speech (gīr) is not mere praise but mantra-force that aligns thought and will with ṛta, so the inner movement becomes straight, coherent, and truth-governed.
Universal truth
Grace is not opposed to discipline: the higher Truth responds when the seeker voluntarily harnesses mind and life-force to a luminous order. Right speech and right intention become the reins by which consciousness is trained into harmony with the universal law.
Themes
mind-discipline, grace and release, alignment with cosmic law, hymn as formative speech
The seer
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha Maitrāvaruṇi
- Lineage
- Vasiṣṭha (traditional Vasiṣṭha gotra)
- Other hymns
- RV 1.24, RV 1.25, RV 7.86, RV 7.87, RV 7.88, RV 7.89
Family tradition
Vasiṣṭha lineage; hymn-cycles to Varuṇa and Mitra–Varuṇa emphasizing ṛta, confession, and restoration to truth.
Significance
Vasiṣṭha’s Varuṇa-hymns are a classic psychology of the seeker: awareness of inner fault, aspiration for purification, and surrender to the vast law of Truth so the being becomes straight and luminous.
The deity
- Devata
- Varuṇa
- Epithets
- Āditya, dhṛta-vrata (firm in law), uru-cakṣas (wide-seeing), ṛtasya gopā (guardian of ṛta, implied)
- Related deities
- Mitra, Aryaman, Indra, Agni, Soma
Cosmic role
Upholder of ṛta and satya; measurer of the vast, binder of disorder, overseer of moral and cosmic causality.
Inner power
The inner sovereign of truth-conscience: the faculty that compels sincerity, clarity, self-correction, and alignment with the universal order.
In ritual
Where it is used
Varuṇa-invocations in Āditya contexts; used where purification, truth-order (ṛta), and release from fault (enas) are sought (general Śrauta usage rather than a single fixed rite).
वि मृ॑ळी॒काय॑ ते॒ मनो॑ र॒थीरश्वं॒ न संदि॑तम् । गी॒र्भिर्व॑रुण सीमहि ॥
वि । मृ॒ळी॒काय॑ । ते॒ । मनः॑ । र॒थीः । अश्व॑म् । न । सम्ऽदि॑तम् । गी॒भिः । व॒रु॒ण॒ । सी॒म॒हि॒ ॥
vi | mṛḷīkāya | te | manaḥ | rathīḥ | aśvam | na | sam-ditam | gīrbhiḥ | varuṇa | sīmahi
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4 pādas × 11 syllables (with typical triṣṭubh caesura tendencies)
Forward-driving, firm, and directive—suited to ethical-spiritual resolve.
Induces a sense of harnessing and onward movement; supports concentration and inner straightening toward ṛta.
- mṛḷīkā
- Literal: mercy, graciousness. Symbolic: the softening, forgiving power of Truth that permits re-alignment and renewal
- manas (mano)
- Literal: mind. Symbolic: the sense-mind/mental instrument to be trained for truth-perception
- rathīḥ
- Literal: charioteer. Symbolic: the inner guide—discriminative intelligence steering life-force
- aśva
- Literal: horse. Symbolic: vital energy and dynamic force of action to be yoked to the right aim
- saṃ-ditam
- Literal: well-joined, properly harnessed. Symbolic: integrated energies (mind–life–speech) made coherent and serviceable
- gīr / gīrbhiḥ
- Literal: songs, inspired words. Symbolic: mantric speech as formative power that shapes consciousness
- Varuṇa
- Literal: name of an Āditya deity. Symbolic: the Vast, guardian of ṛta/satya; inner power of ethical-spiritual law
- ṛta (implied)
- Literal: cosmic order. Symbolic: right rhythm of truth in thought, feeling, and action
Varuṇa-invocations in Āditya contexts; used where purification, truth-order (ṛta), and release from fault (enas) are sought (general Śrauta usage rather than a single fixed rite).
Recitation in personal japa/adhyāya; also suitable in Varuṇa-oriented prayers for purification and truthfulness.
Mantra-recitation with intention of inner alignment; offering of speech (vāg) and mind into the ‘inner yajña’.
Use before meditation as a ‘yoking’ formula: set intention, regulate breath, and bring mind under a higher law (truthfulness, clarity, order).
mṛḷīká: from √mṛḷ/√mṛḍ ‘to be gracious, to soften, to show mercy’ → the soothing, harmonizing power that pacifies disorder. saṃditá: saṃ- + (PPP) from √dā/√dhā in the sense ‘to put together, bind, join’ → ‘well-joined, properly harnessed’. gī́r: ‘voice, hymn’ from √gṛ/√gai ‘to sing, praise’ → speech as formative power. varuṇa: traditionally linked with √vṛ ‘to cover/encompass’ → the all-encompassing sovereign of ṛta; psychologically, the vast consciousness that holds and corrects.
Ṛta (right order), Satya (truth of being expressed as right movement), inner purification and integration of faculties
Explicit: the movement is to be set in Varuṇa’s right order; the mantra is a deliberate re-entry into ṛta.
Truth as a governing consciousness-power that makes mind coherent and action rightly directed.
Cosmos as ordered movement; the same principle governs inner and outer worlds.
Vedāntic-leaning psychological reading (Aurobindo/Kashyap): deities as powers of consciousness; yajña as inner transformation.
The ‘horse’ is life-force; the ‘charioteer’ is guiding intelligence; the ‘path’ is ṛta—right rhythm in consciousness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The yoking of the inner chariot: the mind (manas) is harnessed like a horse by the charioteer-will, under Varuṇa’s grace. Mythically it is not a battle scene but the sovereign’s act of ordering and binding; psychologically it is the integration of vital force into ṛta-directed movement through inspired speech.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- aśva- ‘horse’ continues PIE *h₁éḱwos (cf. Lat. equus, Av. aspa-). The yoking/binding semantics in saṃ-ditam aligns with PIE notions of ‘joining/placing’ (*dʰeh₁- ‘to put’ often yields ‘set together’ in Indo-European phraseology). The chariot complex (ratha-, rathin-/rathī-) is part of the shared Indo-Iranian poetic technology for controlled power and directed motion.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- Reciprocity is explicit: the seer offers gīr (inspired speech) as a means of yoking the mind into Varuṇa’s field of ṛta, while Varuṇa is invoked as mṛḷīka (gracious harmonizer) whose response is inner straightening and release from disorder. The ‘gift’ is not material dakṣiṇā but the disciplined offering of consciousness shaped by mantra.
‘Yoking the mind’ to truth: bring wandering thought under a single luminous intention (ṛta).
ājñā (discipline of mind)
nāḍī-śodhana or slow equal breathing (sama-vṛtti) while mentally repeating key words (mṛḷīkā, ṛta).
Collected, sincere, truth-oriented attention.
Begin with confession of dispersal; then inwardly ‘take the reins’—feel breath as reins, mind as horse; offer speech as mantra-force; resolve to act in alignment with truth for the day.
Triṣṭubh with Vedic accents: observe udātta on marked syllables; svarita as falling accent after udātta; anudātta as unraised background.
Keep the udātta crisp on accented syllables (e.g., mṛḷīkā́ya, manó); avoid flattening the cadence at pāda ends.
mṛḷīkāya: vocalic ṛ (mṛ), retroflex ḷ (ḻ) if your tradition distinguishes; keep long ī, rathīr: sustain long ī; light final r, aśvaṃ: ś as palatal ‘sh’; anusvāra before consonant as nasalization, saṃditam: clear saṃ (nasal) + di; avoid ‘sanditam’ as English-like
steady, restrained, reverent; aim for ‘gathering’ tone rather than dramatic projection.
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