Rig Veda 1.71.5: Mandala 1, Sukta 71, Mantra 5
Sukta 1.71
महे यत्पित्र ईं रसं दिवे करव त्सरत्पृशन्यश्चिकित्वान् । सृजदस्ता धृषता दिद्युमस्मै स्वायां देवो दुहितरि त्विषिं धात् ॥
mahe yat pitrá īṃ rásaṃ divé karavát tsarat pṛśányāś cikitvān | sṛjádatā dhṛṣatā didyúm asmai svāyāṃ devó duhitári tviṣíṃ dhāt ||
जब उसने बड़े पिता और आसमान के लिए वो रस बनाया, तब पृशन्य जो सब जानता था वो आगे बढ़ा। उसने तीर चलाके हिम्मत से वो चमकदार रोशनी निकाली। और भगवान ने अपनी बेटी में वो चमक डाल दी, जहां उसका सही घर था।
Agni-stotra contexts; recitation in fire-kindling/praise sequences (general Śrauta usage; not uniquely tied to a single soma-day chant here)
R̥ta as the right placing/establishing of powers (dhāt as stabilization), manifestation of light into form (sṛj), delight/essence as a principle of realization (rasa)
Light is not random; it is ‘placed’ in its right home—ṛta as correct seating of forces in the nature.
Didhyu as truth-flash; tviṣi as truth stabilized as power.
From essence to illumination to embodiment: delight distilled, light projected, radiance installed in manifestation.
Integral-Vedic psychology: ananda (rasa) and jyotis are coordinated; realization must be seated in prakriti (daughter) as stable force.
Rasa = inner sweetness of offering; lightning = sudden intuition; daughter/home = embodied receptivity where realization is housed.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythologem is the ‘release of the flash’ and the ‘placing of splendour in the daughter’: a cosmogonic-psychological motif where a knowing power (cikitvān) projects illumination (didyu) and then stabilizes it (dhā) in a manifesting faculty (duhitṛ). This encodes the movement from hidden essence (rasa) to sudden revelation and finally to established luminous capacity in the human vessel.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- Several terms preserve archaic Indo-European patterns: dyu/div ‘heaven’ continues PIE *dyew- (cf. Greek Zeus, Latin Iūpiter); √dhā ‘to place’ continues PIE *dʰeh₁- (cf. Greek títhēmi); √sṛj ‘send forth’ aligns with Indo-Iranian productive ‘release/creation’ semantics; the deva/dyau cluster reflects the old luminous-divinity complex central to Indo-European sacral diction.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The poet frames Agni (and allied luminous agencies) as an initiator of inner realization: the Devata does not merely grant external goods but performs a transformative act—releasing illumination and establishing splendour in a receptive inner ‘daughter’ (a faculty of manifestation such as inspired speech/vision). The Rishi’s stance is that of witness and articulator of the process of right-placing (r̥ta): divine action becomes a reproducible inner discipline.
Distill experience into rasa (quiet delight) and seat illumination as stable tviṣi in the receptive nature.
vishuddha
Sama-vṛtti (equal inhale/exhale) while feeling a ‘nectar’ coolness in the throat/heart, then a brief retention to let the ‘flash’ clarify.
From devotional sweetness to illumined clarity and integration.
After practice, recall one moment of gratitude (rasa). Chant once, then visualize a small lightning of insight entering the brow and descending to the heart, settling as a steady glow in the day’s actions.
Keep clear udātta on rásaṃ, cikitvān, sṛjád, didyúm, tviṣím; observe svarita where vowels combine in sandhi.
Let the first half be smoother (rasa), then sharpen articulation on sṛjad astā dhṛṣatā didyum.
rasaṃ: short a; final anusvāra nasalized, pṛśanyaḥ: retroflex ṛ; ś palatal; ny cluster clear, sṛjad: vocalic ṛ; j soft but distinct, dhṛṣatā: retroflex ṛ; ṣ retroflex, tviṣiṃ: tv cluster clean; ṣ retroflex; nasal ending, duhitari: dh aspirated; i vowels clear
Warm and ‘nectar-like’ in pādas 1–2; bright and precise in pādas 3–4.
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